Gerard Basset

TOP 10 magical wines, amongst the many fabulous wines, I have been privileged to taste. 

These 10 wines provided me with incredible emotions because of their wonderful quality but also due the context I tasted them.  The mark I gave to each of them is almost irrelevant.

Champagne, Dom Ruinart Rosé, France 1978, 96pts (Tasted March 2004).  Amazing complexity and delightful sensation!

Egon Müller, Scharzhofberger, Riesling Spätlese, Mosel, Germany 1983, 95pts (Tasted February 2002).  So delicate and appealing, absolutely wonderful!

Chablis Grand Cru, Les Blanchots, Réserve de l’Obédience, Laroche, France, 2005, 97pts (Tasted in November 2012).  At once extremely intense and very pure, a magnificent Chablis.

Leonetti Cellar, Merlot, Columbia Valley, USA 2003, 95pts (Tasted August 2015).  A mature wine in all its glory, just stunning!

Clos Apalta, Casa Lapostolle, Colchagua Valley, Chile, 2005, 96pts (Tasted December 2015).  Vibrant, elegant and delicious!

Hermitage, La Chapelle, Jaboulet, France, 1983, 97pts (Tasted April 2003).  Sublime with truly marvellous flavours!

Stonewell Shiraz, Peter Lehmann, Barossa Valley, Australia, 1989, 98pts (Tasted December 2015 in Magnum).  Magnificent on the nose with a superb velvety texture.

Château Haut-Brion, Péssac-Léognan, France, 1989, 100pts (Tasted November 2013).  Perhaps the most harmonious wine I have ever tasted.  This wine had it all - just perfect and sensational.  This wine is just from another planet!

Clos de la Roche, Dujac, France 1988, (Tasted in December 1994, I did not score the wine at the time but I think it would have been around 96-98pts if I had).  I still remember the feeling I experienced, it was so enjoyable!

Madeira, D’Oliveira Reserva Boal, Portugal, 1922, 99pts (Tasted in September 2011).  Drinking history but most delicious and still so incredibly alive, just paradise!

Gerard Basset, one of the world’s greatest wine professionals, passed away the 16th of January, surrounded by his family. He had fought a brave battle against cancer of the oesophagus since 2017.

Gerard was the first and remains the only individual to have held the excruciatingly challenging Master of Wine qualification simultaneously with the Master Sommelier, MBA Wine Business and MSc from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. The crowning glory of his career came in April 2010 when he won the World Sommelier Championship, cementing his extraordinary domination of the industry. This was further augmented on receiving the OBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to hospitality.

Born and raised in France, Gerard originally trained as a chef, but embarked on a career as a sommelier when he moved to the UK in the 1980s. It was not long before his prodigious talent came to the attention of the wine trade with award wins for the UK Sommelier of the Year, Best International Sommelier for French Wines and Best Sommelier of Europe in quick succession.

Parallel to his competition success was a growing business empire including Hotel du Vin, of which he was a founding partner, and TerraVina, which more recently became Spot in the Woods as the business was adapted to his state of health and desire to be at home in the New Forest. He will perhaps be best remembered for mentoring and training a generation of young sommeliers who sought out his expertise and guidance to launch their careers.

His wife, Nina, said, “Whilst we are devastated to have to say goodbye to Gerard for the last time, we draw strength from the kind messages that we have already received from the many people whose lives he touched. He fought a brave battle against cancer and we are comforted that he died at home surrounded by his family and that he is now at peace. Both Romané and I are profoundly grateful for the support we have received from our friends across the world, including the many in the wine and hospitality industries and to know that Gerard was so loved by all those who knew him.”

A small, private funeral will take place and later in the Spring a memorial service will be held in London, details of which will be released in due course. Messages of condolence can be sent to inmemoriam@culturalcomms.co.uk

SUPER SOMMS: GERARD BASSET AND RONAN SAYBURN

Ask any sommelier who their biggest inspiration in the world of wine is and two names come up time and time again.

The first is Gerard Basset OBE, MS, MW, MBA, OIV, MSc, who is, without question, the most respected and decorated sommelier in the world. Basset is held in Messiah-like regard by legions of sommeliers who look up to his knowledge and dogged determination to gain not only the Master Sommelier but also Master of Wine qualification, and also to his faultless modesty, charm and dedication in supporting the next generation. Not one to court attention, and currently battling terminal cancer of the oesophagus, Basset is a gentleman in the truest sense. Many a protégé has followed in his footsteps, among them Xavier Rousset MS, Dimitri Mesnard MS, Laurent Richet MS and Matthieu Longuère MS.

“I came from France but I wasn’t a sommelier when I arrived in the UK,” recalls Basset. “Because I was French they put me front of house and had me serving the wine, but I didn’t know much about it, so I began to learn. I did courses and went back to France to do a sommelier exam, then I did a competition in 1986. I didn’t want to but my boss suggested it. I reached the final and got hooked. I thought: ‘If I’m in the final now, maybe next time I could win.’ From then on my passion in life was to be a top sommelier and I was going to try to get as far as I could. I might not reach all my goals, but I had to aim high.”

Basset’s career began in earnest in 1988, when he became head sommelier at the Michelin-starred Chewton Glen in the New Forest, Hampshire. He earned his Master Sommelier qualification in 1989 and became an MW in 1998. In 1994 he co-founded the Hotel du Vin chain of restaurants – a hotbed for young sommelier talent – and in 2007 opened the renowned wine-focused TerraVina, a boutique luxury hotel in Hampshire, which has only recently been scaled back to a bed and breakfast (Spot in the Woods) to give Basset and his wife, Nina, more time to themselves. In 2010, he won the World Sommelier Championship, which was followed by an OBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Basset’s influence on a generation of sommeliers has been immense. So it’s fitting that the second sommelier profiled here, Ronan Sayburn MS, the director of wine at London’s 67 Pall Mall, credits Basset with giving him his first big break in wine, and has also built a reputation for supporting the next

Arguably one of the greatest wine professionals of his generation, Gerard Basset is the Sommelier‘s Sommelier; he is a former World Champion Sommelier and the only person ever to simultaneously hold the Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and MBA Wine honours.

Parallel to this has been Gerard’s business success, first with his co-founding the hugely successful Hotel du Vin Group and latterly with his award winning, New Forest boutique wine hotel, Hotel TerraVina. As a business figure, Gerard has been responsible for inspiring and mentoring a generation of young sommeliers, and his innovative approach to training has led many to competition and business success in their own right.

In June 2011 Gerard was appointed OBE – Officer of the Order of the British Empire – acknowledging his extraordinary contribution to the British hospitality industry and the crowning glory of a remarkable career that has seen him become one of the most credible, approachable and respected figures of the wine world.

During his long and distinguished career, Gerard Basset has dedicated much of his time to learning and to conveying his extraordinary knowledge of wine to fellow enthusiasts, both professional and amateur.

Motivated by the desire to discover, Gerard has immersed himself in his subject, completing numerous wine study programmes and examinations in addition to winning the world’s most prestigious sommelier competitions.

He has travelled extensively to wine-producing countries all over the world where he has visited countless vineyards and estates, meeting and building relationships with some of the world’s leading and most innovative producers and wine makers.

Born and raised in France, Gerard originally trained as a chef, but embarked on a career as a sommelier when he moved to the UK in the 1980s. It was not long before his talent came to the attention of the industry with award wins for the UK Sommelier of the Year, Best International Sommelier for French Wines and Best Sommelier of Europe in fairly quick succession.

Parallel to his competition success was the growing of a business of which many can only dream. Gerard was a founding partner of the hugely successful Hotel du Vin Group, which grew to six hotels before it was sold. During his ten years at the helm, Gerard mentored and trained a generation of young sommeliers and barmen who sought out his expertise and guidance to launch their careers. Many have gone on to win industry awards and more still to launch their own successful businesses on the back of their experience at Hotel du Vin and, specifically, their grounding under Gerard’s tutelage.

On the back of his Hotel du Vin success, Gerard opened Hotel TerraVina with his wife, Nina, in 2007 – a boutique wine hotel in Hampshire, which has become a destination for wine lovers from around the world. TerraVina continues to win awards and accolades with fans perhaps drawn more to its impressive cellar than to the beauty of the surrounding New Forest!