Marc Almert and the Baur au Lac are truly a “perfect pairing.” The Zurich hotel institution, with its subsidiary Baur au Lac Vins wine retailer, presents a broad range of challenges that harmonise perfectly with Marc’s extraordinary versatility as a sommelier.

For more than 175 years, this stylish establishment on Lake Zurich has championed the grand tradition of luxury hotelliere. In October 2020 the hotel finished number one on the list of Best 50 Hotels Worldwide in the Readers Choice Awards from US travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler. It was the third year in a row that it earned the crown as “Best Hotel in Europe.”

Pavillon
Marc was hired in January 2017 as a sommelier at the Restaurant Pavillon in the Baur au Lac, where he worked for two years alongside the two-star Francophile cuisine of prizewinning Chef de Cuisine Laurent Eperon, before rising to the rank of Chef Sommelier in the summer of 2019. Evening after evening, he and his team help guests find the absolute perfect wine from the establishment’s 600-position list — although Marc maintains that his thoughtful wine & guest pairing often matters more than the wine & food pairing itself.

Baur’s
Beyond his responsibilities at the two-star restaurant, Marc Almert also curates the wine list at Baur’s Brasserie & Bar which focuses fascinatingly on taste profiles. Furthermore, he composes the summer wine options on the terrace and pairings for the menu at the historical “Le Hall,” the crown jewel of the Zurich 5-star-hotel’s food service.

Baur au Lac Vins
The Baur au Lac world also includes the fine wine shop Baur au Lac Vins. With four locations in and around Zürich, an online shop and distribution for the Swiss catering industry and specialty shops, Baur au Lac Vins represents a tradition-rich Swiss wine importer with decades-old ties to many wine growing estates as well as an open mind to new rising producers. All of which makes Marc’s expertise more than welcome at Baur au Lac Vins. Marc serves as a moderator at tastings, traverses the wine world as a wine scout to glean insights about the new vintage and discover innovations, takes part in tasting the portfolio and provides support to the Baur au Lac Vins team as needed.