Best Student Sommelier for France’s Wines & Spirits Paris
The Chapoutier trophy:
The future looks bright for Pierre Vila PallejaFor the 16th consecutive year, Michel Chapoutier brought together in Tain l’Hermitage the future talents of the sommelier profession. The young title winner in May this year seems to have his path to success clearly marked out.
Pierre Vila Palleja
Pierre Vila Palleja is just 21 years old. He recently passed his “mention complémentaire”, a specialised sommelier qualification, having completed a year’s training at the Albert de Mun School in Paris and then went on to win the Chapoutier Trophy competition for the “Best Student Sommelier in France’s Wines & Spirits”. This competition was conceived and has been devotedly coordinated by Michel Chapoutier for many years. But now, with the financial backing of ‘Metro Cash & Carry France’, the winegrower from Tain l’Hermitage has been able to give more scope and professional discipline to the competition.
A selection of twenty five students from various specialised sommelier sections of National Education establishments therefore met for a first series of selection tests. There was initially a questionnaire, in which teaching staff had participated. The jury, coordinated by Maryse Allarousse, selected a series of tests to which was then added a commented tasting of a white
Watched by Andréas Larsson
After this initial selection stage of the competition, the six best candidates then went through to the final. Mikaël Grou (from the Hotel School in Dinard), John Lauze (from the Voltaire Hotel School in Nîmes), Marianne Monin (from the Institut des Métiers et des Techniques in Grenoble), Alexandre Poumier (from the Occitane Hotel & Tourism School in Toulouse), Clément Thomassin (from the Hotel & Tourism School in Illkirch Graffenstaden) and Pierre Vila Palleja (from the Albert de Mun School in Paris) had an evening to prepare the next stage of the competition. They discovered a menu created by Christian Têtedoie, well-known chef from the Lyon area. The next day, at the Tain l’Hermitage Technical School, this menu was the basis for a test to match food and wine. “This is the specific feature of our competition. We put a tangible aspect into the competition” pointed out Michel Chapoutier.
A company manager who, this year, wanted to give a special touch to the context of this competition chaired by Andréas Larsson, the current holder of the title, “World’s Best Sommelier”. Andréas Larsson, from Sweden, admitted he was “surprised by the overall potential of the six candidates in the final. The winner has extensive knowledge; now he must simply learn to concentrate and channel this information in a way which will enable him to share it with customers.
A head on his shoulders!
The winner, whose future looks bright, associated his success in particular to the sommeliers of ‘Les Ambassadeurs’ restaurant at the Hôtel de Crillon. “The advice given to me by David Biraud and Antoine Pétrus gave me a sense of meticulousness and method in my work” Pierre Vila Palleja told us.
Once he had savoured his victory, this level-headed, determined young man explained the direction he wishes to give his career. “The next step will be obtaining a degree for running and managing a luxury hotel business. The fundamental training acquired will I hope enable me to make my dream become a reality by opening my own wine-themed restaurant …”
Between now and next November, Pierre Vila Palleja, Franck Ramage, his teacher in Paris and the five other finalists will set off for Australia. With a gesture of sincere generosity, Michel Chapoutier hopes to give them all the opportunity of discovering the vineyards he owns there, and also the chance to take part in the competition organised for fine wines of the Victoria region. “It is important that these young sommeliers have an open mind” explained the creator the Chapoutier Trophy competition “and this is why we take them to the other side of the world. The aim is to extend their knowledge and enable them to understand that wine must now be considered and understood on a worldwide scale. Their credibility the day they join a company will also involve this attitude, which should stretch far beyond the frontiers of France.”
Michel Chapoutier, whose name is now one of the symbols the Tain L’Hermitage winegrowing area, hopes that the helping hand he regularly gives young people will one day bring results and that one of the winners of the Chapoutier Trophy will go on to win a prestigious title.
Jean Bernard
1,2/ Pierre Vila Palleja
3/ Mickaël Grou
4 / Clément Thomassin
