A sommelier’s secret garden Bouliac (Gironde)
Richard Bernard, a wholehearted sommelier
Two first names compose this sommelier’s full name. On first impression, it’s hard to imagine him as a master of Bacchic ceremony. One can sense he is modest, self-effacing and rather discreet. This is perhaps his ploy, since the person one quickly gets to know soon reveals his sincerity and honesty, two virtues he places above all others. .
So what is so special about Richard Bernard? Nothing in particular you might imagine…, but that would be a colossal error, because he is in fact quite an exceptional sommelier. Firstly, his sentimental personality tinged with a hint of nostalgia is charming. He loves these pleasant moments spent with his friend, the chef Michel Portos, with whom he shares the marvellous adventure of running the well-known Saint-James Restaurant in Bouliac. When it comes to combining food and wine Richard Bernard listens solely to what his heart tells him. .
Richard Bernard It was Michel Portos who contacted him in 2004, two years after he had returned to the Bordeaux region. “It was rather like a call for help” Richard Bernard remembers, aware that his friend Michel, then unknown in Bordeaux, felt the need to be surrounded by a reliable team. Between 1994 and 1999, Richard Bernard and Michel Portos both worked side by side at Troisgros, where Richard began his career after his national service carried out in “a dull Mess”. The memory machine begins to set itself in motion…”Pierre Troisgros used to gather us together every Sunday morning to taste the samples he had received during the week. It was a ritual, a pure moment of delight. Then he invited us to go on visits to meet winegrowers. The problem was that one of us had to drive, but that was of little importance, because these trips were great fun. One day, we paid a visit to the cellars of Gaston Huet in Vouvray; Gaston approached me holding out a glass of 1917 and said: “Here you are young man: this is older than your grandfather.” I politely replied that my grandfather was born in 1911. Slightly riled, he went to go and fetch a 1907! I remember we were staying with Jean Bardet in Tours and he invited us to eat at his flat. At Troisgros, we served 40 000 covers a year! Needless to say we worked like mad. However, in our free time, Michel Portos told me about the life of top chefs. We searched for combinations together and shared many ideas. Now we continue to do so even more. When he tries out dishes, he always asks my opinion and I always let him taste the wines, knowing that the perfect combination does not exist. I’m lucky: Michel loves winegrowers.”
Richard quickly moves on to tell me about his childhood. Born in Montferrand, in the district of Clermont, he was the boy who preferred to be at the back of the classroom and preferably close to the radiator. As a youngster, he spent his time drawing cars. His dream was to go to Switzerland to a famous automobile design school, but with his mother working for the Health & Social Security Department and his father for Michelin they weren’t rolling in money, so Richard ended up going to the Hotel School in Chamalières, Giscard’s town, where his aim was to embark upon a career in cuisine. “I had a distant cousin living in Marseille who constantly repeated the same old phrase “There will always be work in cookery”. From the very first lesson I realised that this was not for me. I found it far too complicated. In fact, I swore I would never work in a kitchen again, until I became friends with Michel Portos. He alone enabled me to understand that cuisine can be approached quite simply. Now, when I go to a small house near Loctudy in Brittany with my wife Nathalie (she is from Clermont, we met at school) and my two young sons, I’m not afraid to cook. I know where to buy lobsters and I don’t forget to bring my wines!”
Michel Portos, leader of Saint-JamesGood tips from Richard Bernard’s secret garden
• His greatest wine :
“Without question Madeira, especially those made by the firm d’Oliviera: no fieriness, just marvellous balance and length on the palate…it takes you on a phenomenal imaginary voyage.”
• His current favourite Bordeaux :
a Bordeaux Supérieur made by François Dubernard at Domaine du Bouscat in St-Romain-la-Virvée. “This wine resembles the man who makes it.
I like to serve this red wine slightly cool, at around 14°C, because it reminds me of the emotions I felt when tasting it in François’ barrel storehouse. I gladly drink a glass just for pleasure, as an aperitif.”
• His current favourite Burgundy :
“I love wines made by Vincent Geantet, at Domaine Geantet-Panisot in Gevrey-Chambertin. Charmes, Chambolle or Marsannay, all the wines he makes are good. He makes delicious wines which make you want to share them.”
• His champagne :
“the one that seems absolutely “irresistible” at present is L’Amour de Deutz. “This champagne cheers you up!”
After three years , and just three days of serious cramming prior to his exam, Richard, who had oriented his studies to dining room service, managed, in extremis, to pass his Hotel Technical Diploma, the equivalent of a vocational certificate these days. To obtain the specific “sommelier” qualification, another year of study was required. The waiting list was already very long, but thanks to two friends dropping out of this course because they wanted to change their career orientation, he was able to spend a year with the teacher Pierre Pellux, who would heighten his awareness about wine. During this year, he qualified for the regional final of the Ruinart Trophy and then won the National Trophy for wines of Bordeaux and Aquitaine. In 1992, he was offered his first work experience position: he became commis at Georges Blanc’s Restaurant. Here the Head Sommelier was Gilles Hascouët, who in 1986 won the title of ‘France’s Best Young Sommelier’, a competition that Richard Bernard would win ten years later. “I had learned how to work hard and was lucky enough to accompany Gilles on his trips to meet winegrowers. My aim was to succeed in catching Gilles out, but I never did. That forced me to work even harder and really make progress.”
Richard admits he hates routine and never thinks about career plans, but although he was well established at Troisgros, in 1999 he received a call from Eric Beaumard, who had recently been recruited by the George V and was looking for someone to take over from him at La Poularde. “I talked to my wife about this proposition and the following day I accepted the offer. It was a pure delight to spend five years working as Head Sommelier in this restaurant with its absolutely magnificent cellar, especially as I was responsible for its management too.” Recently settled in Floirac, near Bordeaux with his family, Richard Bernard takes full advantage of the strategic position offered by his collaboration with his friend Michel Portos. One of his most stunning combinations is a sweet Gewürztraminer 2002 from Bott Geyl served with Gironde caviar on a cauliflower mousse sprinkled with cockles. Thanks to an extremely varied wine list ranging from Bellet in Alsace, as well as Gérard Gauby and the Foucault brothers, “the world’s two greatest winegrowers”, he generates an enviable 43% of the restaurant’s total turnover with sales from the cellar alone. “But the wine list is not very representative. When taking stock, I note 50% of our sales are Bordeaux wines and the other 50% wines from all over the world.” Between a trip to the coast near La Rochelle and the Island of Ré, a visit to the ‘Futuroscope’, going to the cinema with his children and his real passion for playing the electric guitar (he owns four, including a Gibson), he does not have time to get bogged down in any kind of routine. He could almost forget the production of his 0.13 hectares in the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, vinified and matured in a cellar located beneath Michel Portos’ house, right next to the restaurant, with which he hopes to make at least 400 bottles in 2007.
Michel Smith
