Executive Wine Director – Groupe Alain Ducasse
His career
Gérard Margeon is a quiet, discreet man, as much by personal inclination as by his rather frantic job which does not allow him much time to appear in public. He travels constantly from New York to Paris to London, while keeping in touch with what is happening in London or Mauritius. Juggling with wine lists that must all be exemplary and all different. And managing the careers of 23 different sommeliers – even more difficult when you realise that this is the one position where people move the most frequently from one restaurant to another.
Eclectic training
At the beginning of his career Gérard Margeon did not leave his native soil of Burgundy. Born in theHospices de Beaune in 1961, he attended the school of hotel management in Semur-en-Auxois, when its wine training courses were just beginning. He fulfilled his childhood dream of visiting the legendary wine estates of Burgundy. His first job was also in the locality – at the Hotel de la Cloche in Beaune. His interest in becoming a skiing instructor led him to take jobs in Savoy, Switzerland, Austria and the Italian Alps. His first big job was in Biarritz for the opening of the Hôtel Miramar. He ran the dining room there from 1982 to 1987. He had always used his different job locations to find out about the local vineyards and this was no exception as he made several trips to the wine-growing areas of Spain. In 1985 he spent some time at the château d’Artigny to gain additional experience not only in wine-growing but also in serving.
A turning point in his life
In 1987 he left the Basque country and took over the job of Head Sommelier at the Méridien Montparnasse hotel in Paris. He was a very busy man as, at the time, this was one of three hotels in France serving the largest number of meals, with enormous banquets, very active room service, a large brasserie and a gastronomic restaurant called the Montparnasse 25. This job also gave him the opportunity to travel widely and to get a feel for the restaurant scene world-wide. The most important moment in his life, without any doubt, was his meeting with Alain Ducasse, who telephoned him to offer him the Head Sommelier’s position at the Louis XV. Although he was working at the Méridien Montparnasse which was not one of the finest gastronomic restaurants, Gérard Margeon had the technical expertise to take on the position at the Louis XV. In 1992 he had been on Philippe Faure-Brac’s training team preparing for the “Mondial” competition. From the start he wanted to make changes to some sommellerie practices. He settled down successfully in Monaco, at the SBM, and then joined the team at 59 Poincaré. This was the point at which he began to create different wine lists for Hédiard or Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. He remained an active sommelier until September 2001, as well as overseeing the wine lists and managing the other sommeliers in the group.
Gérard Margeon considers that “back room” sommellerie is just as important as what goes on in the actual dining rooms. Today Gérard manages 11,000 suppliers, contacts, etc. as well as attending a large number of wine tastings. And, as if he were not busy enough, he still finds time to take part as a speaker in ADF seminars and at the Centre de Formation d’Alain Ducasse.