Éric Beaumard
What is your daily routine?
For 17 years I have run the three restaurants at the Hôtel George V in Paris, including Le Cinq with its three Michelin stars, 15 wait staff at each sitting and 12 sommeliers, five days a week from 11am to 1am. I’m always on the move!
How do you find time to do what you love?
By working! I’m lucky enough to love what I do – and I have for over 35 years. Ever since I lost the use of one arm in a motorbike accident and I had to stop training to become a chef. Three-star chef Olivier Rœllinger suggested I dedicate myself to wine. I immediately threw myself into wine books, worked as a sommelier for 14 years at La Poularde in Montrond-les-Bains, and then was lucky enough to come here and put together the Hôtel George V’s cellar. When I arrived in 1999, it contained 37 bottles; today, it’s more than 50,000.
What are your criteria for the cellar?
Tasting wine with the winemakers themselves, only.
I make that a point of honour. Two days a month, I head off with some of my sommeliers to visit estates, taste wines, negotiate the best prices, take the pulse of a particular appellation, and try to uncover some lesser-known small producers. Each year I retain one or two producers in France. It’s a real adventure – and an absolute joy.
Do you have a guiding principle?
Truth. I’m only looking for wines that faithfully express their terroir. That’s what I find seductive in Château Palmer’s creations. They have a touch and delicacy so typical of the estate’s history, its particular mix of grape varieties, and fantastic geological situation. To all that you can now add the estate’s choice a few years ago to work in an environmentally responsible way, which was both courageous and necessary. In light of the challenges we face today, as well as the price of the best wines, I particularly welcome this approach to the soil, taking care of it, as you would your own garden.
" I’m only looking for wines that faithfully express their terroir. That’s what I find seductive in Château Palmer’s creations." "Restaurant Director and Sommelier, Hôtel George V, Paris, France "
What are your “Palmer moments”?
I first had the chance of appreciating the estate’s signature
mellowness with a 1979 Palmer. That was an emotional moment! Years later, after having tasted other vintages – 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1998 and 2000 – I experienced another memorable moment: a tasting on the estate of a 1964 Palmer, the year the friend who accompanied me was born. Thomas Duroux surprised us with it and it was magical! In the same way, I really hope to be around the day we open our double magnum of 1961 Palmer.
