2001
The Birth of a Wine Passion: Alexandre Petit's Journey from Mercier to Tasting Expert
All started during an internship for LVMH Champagne brand Mercier in Epernay: an encounter with 3 professional sommeliers transformed Alexandre Petit’s career in wine.
Alexandre Petit is 19 years old.
Initially tasked with advising the 1000 daily visitors on which champagne to buy, his responsibilities quickly expanded to leading comparative tastings of 3 champagnes for VIP customers in a dedicated tasting room, an amazing opportunity that sparked Petit’s passion for professional wine tasting.
His days were 100% dedicated to tasting: either by learning from professional sommeliers during the day or from winemakers in the evenings and at weekends, or by experiencing tasting with customers every day and at the winemakers. Every day, he learns new details about the grape varieties, the soil, the impact of the age of the vines, the impact of the details of a bottle, a glass, the temperature of conservation, tasting, agriculture, the tanks used for vinification, the dosage liqueurs, etc.: he gathers thousands of pieces of information day after day which help him to improve his sense of tasting.
From this pivotal moment, Petit embarked on a journey of tasting expertise, exploring local winemakers every evening after work and tasting several new wines a day.