World Mauritius
Jerôme Faure
standard bearer of the sommellerie in the Indian Ocean
In position for 10 years within the Mauritian group Constance, the finalist of the contest of One of the Best Craftsmen of France (MOF) in 2004 is devoted to promote his job with colleagues whom he trains and enables to meet numerous wine growers of both hemispheres. Story of a well shared passion.
Jerôme Faure We know for a long time that the quality of the training of the French sommeliers does not only benefit to the French restaurants. One only has to look at the competitions organised by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale. Posted abroad for at least three years, French professionals represent especially United Kingdom just like the native of Saint-Etienne Gérard Basset who became Best Sommelier of the World in 2010. But others wore the colours of Ireland, Luxembourg, the United States and even Australia...
Jérôme Faure, native of Isère, also chose to export his know-how. Trained at the Lesdiguières High School in Grenoble, “I 'd rather chose cooking. But after I passed the vocational degree I trained in complementary mention Sommellerie.” After he finished in 1996, he went to Ireland then Scotland, “to practise fly fishing and discover the world of whisky!”. Meanwhile, the military led him to work as chef for the governor of the Invalides..
In the tasting space of the cellar of Prince Maurice, Jérôme Faure received in particular Alphonse Mellot, Christine Vernay, Thierry Germain and Marc Perrin, every members of the association Art de Vignes.
From the South African dream to the Seychelles
Then, direction Provence. La Mirande (Avignon) then Le Mas des Herbes Blanche (Luberon) enabled him to assert himself professionally and also to meet Sarah, his wife today. “In 2004, we both wanted to live an experience abroad. We had chosen South Africa without imagining certain administrative complications. Finally we settled in the Seychelles, in Lémuria, one of the three establish- ments that the Mauritian group Constance then managed. And this all happened almost on a misunderstanding ...”
Ten years later, Constance totals seven establishments: Le Prince Maurice and Belle Mare Plage (Mauritius), Lémuria and Ephélia (the Seychelles), Moofushi and Halaveli (the Maldives) and finally Tsarabanjina (Madagascar). A development that the French sommelier accompanied by becoming the head sommelier of the group. “I then had two priorities: at first have a cellar with the right temperature and be able to purchase safely in terms of security and transport, and then to set up a sommellerie team by training local sommeliers. It is the case today as we are 48 sommeliers distributed over 7 establishments with a small number of expatriates.” And among around the thirty French who joined him temporarily in Maurice, seven left married...
Professionals who animate their job thanks to the wine growers' regular visits who accompany discovery weeks of their wine. “I try to go once a year to South Africa and I feel I know his vineyard than the French one.”
The sharing of the knowledge and the experience
If Jérôme Faure conquered the young Mauritian professionals, it is thanks to his personality and his will to share his knowledge as much as his know-how. The one who was finalist in 2004 of the competition “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” in Toulouse, passed on to others the taste of questioning oneself. Jonathan Bauer-Monneret became Best Young Sommelier of France in 2009 thanks to the support of the one whose everyday life he shared at Belle Mare Plage.
Short after, the Frenchman set up a Mauritian association whose the statutes are copied from UDSF's and launched his own national competition organised every two years. “The next stage is to join the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale as observer country and to be able to accompany a candidate next November for the competition of the Best Sommelier of Asia-Oceania.”
His other pet subject remains training. “We want to develop the training of sommelier in partnership with the hotel business school Gaëtan-Duval. It already perfectly prepares the staff ready to enter in our establishments, but we want to go further. The association is thus going to commit itself and to provide its expertise in the most technical aspects of the job.”
A program that startedat on last April and that should benefit to the whole Mauritian luxury hotel business and beyond, to the Indian Ocean. The beginning of a new adventure for Jérôme Faure who, this year, took care with the same passion of the organisation of the culinary festival Bernard-Loiseau at Prince Maurice.
Jean Bernard
Jérôme Faure surrounded by his old friend, the Best Sommelier of France 2014 Jonathan Bauer-Monneret, and the one who accompanies him today Jérôme Carlier.
