Messy and Devaney form millionaires' sommelier service
May 5, 2009
By Adam Lechmere
Top UK sommeliers Philippe Messy and Gearoid Devaney have started a personal sommelier service for the super-rich.
The pair come with gilt-edged credentials, Messy from Gravetye Manor and the Hyde Park Hotel, as well as his own openings L'Etranger and Papillon, and Devaney from Tom Aikens.
Winelife is the working title for the venture, founded by Messy and millionaire businessman Bertrand Faure Beaulieu.
They hit on the idea after Messy had been giving ad hoc personal wine advice to Faure Beaulieu for some years.
For an undisclosed yearly fee, Winelife will provide the world's wealthiest men and women with a personal bespoke sommelier service, from education and tasting to cellaring, buying and drinking advice.
Messy and Devaney are now builiding a team of the 'finest, award-winning sommeliers' – persuading them to leave their current positions and join the team of globetrotting personal wine experts.
The two latest recruits, bringing the total to four, are Master Sommelier Christopher Delalonde of The Square and Sebastian Chevalier of Amber at Hong Kong's Mandarin Oriental. He will take care of the operation in Hong Kong.
'This is a great opportunity for our sommeliers, it gives them a chance to spend much more time exploring wine on the open road, meeting winemakers, tasting and discovering new wines,' Messy said.
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As a capitalist I commend these entrepreneurs. I am sure they will be very busy catering to the rich and famous. However that will come with the cost of catering to the rich and famous's whims and personalities etc.
As an oenophile I can not see the need for their services. I would rather learn all I can and taste a multitude of different wines and decide for myself what I truly enjoy. I have been disappointed by sommelier services in some restaurants and would rather trust my own palate and knowledge.
Ivan F, Canada
There's a reason why Sommeliers work in restaurants and are not running businesses. I hope Monsieur Beaulieu has plenty of money to fund this with, but they clearly didn't do the numbers here. Paying salaries for 4 sommeliers, one of which is based in Hong Kong, where costs are among the highest in the world, as well as the names invovled in this venture, does not sound like it has any sort of lifespan on it. A couple of very top Master Sommeliers in the United States tried this "venture" some years ago, only to find, that once they had advised the very wealthy for a little while, their services were no longer needed and they are now back running top wine programs in restaurants. The simple reason why the very wealthy have become that, is that they figure out how to not need the services of a Sommelier, once they have a nice collection and have aquired the necessary knowledge...I wish them luck, but chances are, in this economy, having the advice of a couple of Sommeliers with mediocre credentials, is not exactly on top of most wealthy people's mind. If anything, you need to have a world-wide recognized name with serious credentials to be on top of this game, otherwise what's the point? Gil Lempert-Schwarz, Las Vegas, Nevada
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