{"id":41198,"date":"2025-09-17T14:27:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T14:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/?p=41198"},"modified":"2025-10-09T19:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:37:38","slug":"gaetan-lacoste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/gaetan-lacoste\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaetan Lacoste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the head of the wine program at La R\u00e9serve and Le Gabriel***, Ga\u00ebtan Lacoste embodies a new generation of sommeliers \u2014 demanding, visionary, and open to the world. More than a messenger of wine, he views his craft as a true key to the guest experience, where emotion, knowledge, and an eye for detail come together to complement and elevate the cuisine. A member of Les Grandes Tables du Monde, he shares his vision of a profession in transformation: one that bridges transmission, creativity, and new horizons.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"LRP<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


September 17, 2025 \u2013 Le Gabriel, Paris<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betty Marais: You lead the wine program at La R\u00e9serve and Le Gabriel. If you had to summarize your vision of the sommelier\u2019s craft, what drives you every day?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Ga\u00ebtan Lacoste:<\/strong> Passing knowledge on, above all. That\u2019s the heart of it. I have a small team of five \u2014 from apprentice to senior sommelier \u2014 and I want everyone to gain autonomy quickly. I was given my chance early, so I try to do the same: make sure each person contributes something meaningful \u2014 an idea, a discovery, a favorite bottle.
Our wine list is eclectic and colorful. We\u2019re firmly anchored in the estates owned by our proprietor, Michel Reybier, but we\u2019re also open to independent, free-spirited winemakers. Today, about 80% of our list is organic or biodynamic \u2014 not out of ideology, but out of taste. We choose wines that are sincere, balanced, and bright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People still talk a lot about \u201cnatural wines\u201d versus \u201cclassic wines.\u201d Do these distinctions still matter to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not really. Here, we don\u2019t put wine into boxes. There are no dogmas, not for grand cru purists, not for zero-sulfur enthusiasts. The idea is to respond to every palate, every curiosity.
Our dining room is a world unto itself: an international guest who\u2019s flown in just for dinner, a young couple of students, and a loyal local regular. They all come to feel something.
My ideal dining room would have three tables side by side \u2014 one with a great Burgundy, one with an old Bordeaux, and one with a Belgian beer. And sometimes, a non-alcoholic pairing is built around tea or an infusion. That diversity is what makes the sommelier\u2019s job so exciting today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve also made Le Gabriel more accessible \u2014 which is rare in the palace world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, that was deliberate. When I arrived in 2021, we rethought the wine list, allowing guests to come just for a glass at the bar or a bottle at the counter \u2014 without having to commit to a full three-course dinner.
Before, prices were higher, the \u201cpalace effect,\u201d I suppose. We lowered them, energized the selection, and the result is clear: guests are coming back, and younger guests are stepping in for the first time.
It\u2019s a long-term vision \u2014 but that\u2019s what keeps a house alive. We have to stay connected to reality. Neither I nor my team live in the palace world in our everyday lives. We love the bistros of the 11th arrondissement, noisy dining rooms, wines poured a little too warm\u2026 And I think that proximity and humility resonate with our guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"LE
LE GABRIEL Le Gabriel salle Cr\u00e9dit Gr\u00e9goire Gardette copie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This openness also extends to your view of beverages \u2014 today, sommeliers no longer deal with wine alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly \u2014 and that\u2019s wonderful!
Starting this profession in 2025 is thrilling: the field is vast. We\u2019re talking about wine, of course, but also beer, cider, kombucha, kefir, coffee, tea\u2026 Everywhere you look, there are talented artisans. They push us to broaden our horizons.
I don\u2019t see it as a constraint but as a natural evolution. Curiosity is essential. Take coffee \u2014 we now talk about origin, fermentation, acidity, just like with wine. And tea, when served in front of the guest, becomes almost theatrical. These new service rituals are powerful \u2014 and guests notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A kind of stagecraft, then?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, but an honest one. When you serve a rare tea with precision and grace, guests remember it.
We recently introduced this tea ritual at Le Gabriel, and we were initially cautious. But guests were eager to be guided, to listen, to learn \u2014 and that\u2019s incredibly rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a house like Le Gabriel, what is the sommelier\u2019s role alongside the chef?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chef is the compass, of course \u2014 everything starts with the plate. But I\u2019m lucky: J\u00e9r\u00f4me Banctel really listens. He\u2019ll even adjust a texture or flavor if the wine requires it.
He comes from the Senderens school, where the wine often dictated the dish \u2014 and he\u2019s kept that sense of dialogue. Here, everyone tastes everything, from the interns to the ma\u00eetre d\u2019. It creates a culture of sharing. You feel involved, responsible, part of something collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building a cellar also means building an identity. How do you shape yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes time \u2014 years. One harvest at a time. You can\u2019t have it all, and that\u2019s frustrating, but now we\u2019re seeing our own signature emerge: a living, curious, engaged approach to wine.
Guests feel it. Some return two years later and say, \u201cWe still remember that pairing \u2014 we came back for it.\u201d That\u2019s the ultimate reward. It means you created emotion that lasts.
And beyond passion, a cellar is a financial strategy too. It adds value to the restaurant. A head sommelier can significantly impact the economic balance of a restaurant or hotel. A well-built cellar is a long-term asset \u2014 a living treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And France, compared to abroad?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some countries are ahead when it comes to the immersive dining experience. Spain, for example, has been doing for ten years what we\u2019re just beginning to explore.
And in Copenhagen, Alchemist pushes the idea of dining to its limits. Rasmus Munk is extraordinary \u2014 he blurs the line between storytelling, science, and sensation. In France, we still hold on to too many codes. We could dare more, without losing who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you see the next generation of sommeliers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re amazing \u2014 curious, open, connected. The sommelier of tomorrow will need to be a technician, a storyteller, and a researcher all at once.
The world of wine is evolving fast: younger generations are taking over family estates, bringing new ideas, new balances. We\u2019re rediscovering places and producers we thought we already knew. The same thing is happening in restaurants \u2014 a more conscious, freer generation is coming in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And guests \u2014 are they changing too?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitely. People drink less, but they want to drink better. Some are willing to spend \u20ac150 or \u20ac200 on a single glass. They\u2019re seeking understanding, emotion, experience.
At the same time, there\u2019s polarization \u2014 wealthier clients on one side, and others who save up for one extraordinary dinner a year. For them, we must remain accessible, or we risk losing touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you had to imagine sommellerie in 2030?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be about total experience. The sommelier won\u2019t just pour wine \u2014 he\u2019ll create moments. Maybe service will start somewhere else: in the cellar, at the bar, in another space entirely.
New rituals, new gestures will emerge. But the essence will stay the same: creating connection, emotion, and meaning \u2014 for the right person, at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through his generous and clear-sighted vision, Ga\u00ebtan Lacoste embodies a generation of sommeliers for whom the cellar is both a place of culture and of emotion. Curious about everything, grounded yet open to the world, he restores to the service of wine its truest purpose: the art of connection \u2014 sensitive, accessible, and alive.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the head of the wine program at La R\u00e9serve and Le Gabriel***, Ga\u00ebtan Lacoste embodies a new generation of sommeliers \u2014 demanding, visionary, and open to the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":41220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[490],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prominent-talent"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41198"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41349,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41198\/revisions\/41349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesgrandestablesdumonde.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}