By David Capelle
Published on
May 5, 24 at 7:26 p.m.
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How far away are the days when Alexis Blondel frolicked in the streets of Couville (Manche). Imagine that in the heart of the 1990s, this little blonde face was playing marbles or pogs with her friends in the playground of the school which was not yet called Thomas-Pesquet.
And yet, it is he who, years later, lives with his head in the stars or rather across the entire world, crisscrossing the globe in search of more or less exotic challenges.
Close-up on the career of This 38 year old Manchesis who made a name for himself in the international sommelier.
“I caught the wine bug”
The story therefore begins in Couville. In this small town on the outskirts of Cherbourg, less than a thousand inhabitants. A local school, friends, a charismatic teacher, Marc Joineau.
In the CM2 class, Alexis forged friendships which, for some, are still intact today. A bit self-conscious about his weight, he then discovered college, Provinces in Octeville.
Not a big fan of school exercise, he knows that his professional future will not be played out in an office. While his closest friends entered a general high school, he made the choice – bold for the time – to go to boarding school and join the Granville hotel school. He obtained a BTS in hospitality, culinary arts and table service option.
My father was a hunter, my mother liked to cook, good dishes with local products, cooking, I loved that too, big family meals with good bottles…
“Above all, I completed a sommelier course in Dinard, with a professor, a great gentleman of wine, Christian Stévanin. He passed on his passion to me. I caught the virus then. »
The discovery of luxury
Once you had your diplomas, you had to get into the profession. “I started in Jersey but quickly, I wanted to look elsewhere,” he recalls.
Very far indeed, since for a year, in 2008, with July, the couple took their backpack, heading to Australia. “For two months, we toured the country before settling in Sydney, as a sommelier. »
Alexis becomes fully bilingual, but once his 12-month visa is over, he returns to France. It was at that moment that he took his first steps into the big world. “I was hired by the Hôtel Royal Resort in Évian, part of the Danone group.”
Taking advantage of the famous golf course nearby, he comes across the Karembeu or Zinédine Zidane spouses.
At first, it’s funny to meet people you see on TV, but then you get used to it, you realize that they are… normal!
Paul McCartney in Saint-Barth
After this escapade on the shores of Lake Geneva, the Manchois decided to return to Oceania. This time heading to New Zealand. ” It was wonderful. I moved to Auckland, I worked for the oldest restaurant in the country, I met a lot of people there…”
Return to Paris a year later, in a starred hotel, La Grande Cascade. He perfects his skills in serving, in wine.
It was then that he was offered a new mission: head sommelier in a Relais et Châteaux in Saint-Barth, in the Caribbean. As in New Zealand, the decor is grandiose and the clientele is renowned.
“I didn’t meet Johnny there who had his habits on this island, but I served Paul McCartney, one of the Beatles, gentleman, charming, wine lover. »
Dubai, the Muslim New York
Through Alexandre Hersand, a chef barmaid from… Couville, Alexis is celebrating his 26th birthday in Dubai. In the Persian Gulf, he participated in the opening of a restaurant with the British chef Izu Ani.
“It was an extraordinary experience in the New York of the Muslim world, as a head sommelier. I started to gain rank. Being French, in the world of wine, is still an advantage. Our country is the cradle of wine. In terms of luxury, I saw things there that I had never seen and will never see again. There were large, expensive bottles…! There is still a lot of alcohol in this country. »
Now slender, he restricts his consumption and maintains an excellent lifestyle.
We taste all the opened bottles, but it’s only a centiliter each time, we drink maybe one glass in total per evening.
Manuel Peyrondet, the mentor
After this adventure, the Couvillais returned to France. He joined the Royal Monceau for three years and worked with head sommelier Manuel Peyrondet, best worker and best sommelier in France.
“He is obviously a model, he gave me the keys, he made me understand in particular that I had to visit the terroir, smell the grapes, pick them, go to the winegrower’s cellar to understand it. Since then, I have thought of him often. »
In 2016, headed to New York, to Ducasse to work in a luxury bistro, Le Benoit, on the 55e avenue. “Again, it was a question of opportunity, of networks. I was head sommelier, I managed the wine list, the cocktails, the service. »
New York is an extraordinary city, there is so much energy.
Covid in Couville
From the end of 2019 to March 2020, the Manchois travels, goes to meet orcas, his great passion since childhood. Often alone. “I didn’t want to settle down with someone, keep my freedom, be able to leave whenever I want, wherever I want, without asking any questions.”
And then there is Covid. Back home. “I went back to my parents in Couville, it’s been a while. »
Alexis breathes. “I took the opportunity to dig into my books. I improved my skills, I passed level 3 of the WSET, a diploma in wines and spirits. »
After the pandemic, return to Paris with a pop-up project with starred chefs, opposite the Eiffel Tower, quai Branly. Before a new turn in 2022…
“Making the best rosé champagne in the world”
A headhunter follows him for several months. Alexis is seduced. He has been a sommelier for fifteen years, this time he was asked to be assistant cellar master in a large house in Champagne.
Fleur de Miraval is the association of three brilliant families: the Péters, the Perrins and the Pitts… Brad Pitt! “I work in a vineyard in Mesnil-sur-Oger, an hour from Reims, I am at the heart of the profession, I assist in the winemaking and blending. It’s a clever dosage, very technical, with old bottles, a blend never before made…”.
Since August 2022, Le Manchois has been launched on a long-term project to create, with a team, “the best rosé champagne in the world”.
The apotheosis in Hollywood
Among her missions, Alexis must ensure the promotion of the product. “I travel all over the world, I’m abroad three months out of twelve.”
At the beginning of March, he found himself in Hollywood for the Oscars. Although he has never met Brad Pitt, the Manchois takes advantage of the actor’s influence in this environment to set up the red carpet.
“For three years, our champagne has been part of the post-ceremony cocktail, it’s a great mark of trust. »
He sees Steven Spielbergboasts to American journalists of his 350 euro bottle “not that expensive”, takes a photo with it Eva Longoria, looks at Robert Downey Jr. “It was great!” », he reacts once back in the tranquility of the Marne vineyards.
No time to breathe, however: he will soon be flying off for a Japan-China-Singapore triptych. “Sometimes I tell myself that it wasn’t necessarily my destiny,” he reflects.
I don’t have winegrower parents, I discovered this world, I was very lucky, I’m sinking my teeth into it.
The return to Couville will wait until August. With a good bottle on the table and stories to tell.
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