“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious,” Albert Einstein once said of himself. Like the famous scientist, Marc Almert was also once on the path to become a physicist. Yet in his case, his passionate curiosity came to focus on the wine world instead… with a “bit” of talent at play as well.

“There is a story behind every wine. I love discovering these tales, and passing them on.”

Marc Almert is a sommelier. In fact, he’s one of the absolute elite of his trade — it’s not for nothing that he was crowned ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2019. Yet his excellence perhaps expresses itself most succinctly in his ability to approach all of the world’s wines with tremendous openness. Marc is always ready to learn and — most importantly — to have fun while doing it. And his enthusiasm is catching. As chef sommelier of Switzerland’s renowned Baur au Lac & Baur au Lac Vins, Marc works with the world’s finest bottles day in, day out. Yet he doesn’t view wine as inherently elitist. Quite the opposite:

continue reading

“You don’t have to read an entire library to understand wine. Anyone, whatever their background or current state of knowledge, can take up wine and find joy in its many facets.”

Blog