The Wine Escapade of Stephanie …embarking on a voyage of wine discovery.

I am Stephanie; people in Singapore, where I am living, call me “Frenchy”.
I am a sommelier from the Wine School of Tain l’Hermitage in Rhone Valley France and I have been working for the Hilton Singapore as chief sommelier since 2009.

Stephanie putting in some real hard work in the vinyards of France

Wine and me; it’s a love story which started when I wasn’t even of age to drink it!
As I am French, it’s definitely part of my culture. It became my passion through my Dad who allowed me to have a taste of it sometimes when I was really young (very common in French culture).

So I studied wine in France from 2005 to 2007 and travelled by myself all over the vineyards of Rhone Valley, Burgundy and Bordeaux.

I have worked several times with the wine makers during the harvest time in their wineries, trying to understand more and to get the secret of the wine making processes.

I even had the chance to make my own wine with the wine maker Ludovic Belin in Burgundy in 2008.

I realized that school gives you the knowledge of the technical basics and helps you to understand the hard world of wine. But the truth and the most important knowledge comes from the vineyard and the wine makers.

Without school first, I would probably have taken more time to understand the wine makers I met. However I did work in the vineyards and without those experiences that I had in the vineyards I would not be able to talk about wine with the same passion.

Therefore I have asked my company Hilton Singapore, to send me to Italy.
Italy… it’s like a dream for me, but also a nightmare at the same time!
How to understand their wines? So many types of grapes I have never heard about!
I am taking the challenge of understanding it!
During 3 weeks, I will travel from the South to the North of Italy; meet around 40 wines makers and I will then end my trip at the world famous wine event, “VinItaly”.
I am aiming to understand all I can with the goal making an excellent wine List for the Italian restaurant “Il Cielo” at Hilton Singapore.

The adventures continue! Soon …California

Whoever wants to follow me, you are most welcome here!