Pascaline Lepeltier is a French sommelier adored by her French and American peers. Also unusual: before becoming passionate about wine, she completed Hypokhâgne, Khâgne and a masters in philosophy of language with Bergson. She achieved an unprecedented double in 2018 by winning the titles of Meilleur Sommelier de France and Meilleur Ouvrier de France in sommellerie. She is an advocate for natural wines, works at the Chambers restaurant in Manhattan, New York, and has just published a book that’s causing a lot of conversation. thousand vines (Hachette, 360 pages, 45 euros). in 2024, this 41-year-old woman will represent France in the Best Sommelier in the World competition.

Her book A Thousand Vines compiles a remarkable body of wine studies. It leads to rethinking the vine, the winegrowing landscapes and the tasting as a whole. Its subtitle is ambitious: “Thinking about the wine of tomorrow”. In what condition did you write it?

When Hachette contacted me in 2019, I started teaching a lot, both in New York and in France. I was frustrated with how to memorize wine without asking questions. I want to invite people to think because I’m tired of always seeing the same outdated ideas about viticulture, the same selection of wines in the cellars, in the newspapers, the same ways of talking about it. We need to stop categorizing wines or immutable knowledge. Because of my university background, I like to ask myself questions and seek answers. As my wife says, I like to make the simple complicated.

I want this book to provide keys to understanding why and how we got there. Explain that there are more or less defensible human choices in the construction of any appellation, alcohol or oenological practice. Illuminating contemporary reality through its developments makes it possible to accept tomorrow’s changes. Because a lot has to change: viticulture, tasting, marketing… In a way, my book is political.

“We no longer cook, we no longer go to the winemaker: we buy directly, it has to be quick, everything and immediately”

Is wine political?

Yes, you have to look more broadly. Wine is linked to agriculture and food, which are fundamentally political. On questions of production methods and quality. The problem is that the chain between the producer and the end user has become much longer. We no longer know where the products come from. However, as the chain stretches, it becomes more difficult to ensure that the environment in which we thrive allows us to feed ourselves with good quality over the long term.

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