Women In The Wine World: Séverine Frerson, Maison Perrier-Jouët

Incomes the title of cellar grasp for one of many world’s most acknowledged Champagne homes is not any straightforward activity. However it’s one thing Séverine Frerson achieved in 2018 when she succeeded Hervé Deschamps to turn out to be the primary feminine cellar grasp within the historical past of Maison Perrier-Jouët. At the moment, she joined a shortlist of only some girls to carry the place in all of Champagne. Initially from the historic Champagne village of Reims, Frerson has at all times been guided by her ardour for wine. She studied enology at college and has devoted her profession to buying as a lot technical and sensible expertise as doable. That is complemented by each an distinctive instinct and reminiscence that has allowed her to recall every wine in all of its complexity.

In honor of Girls’s Historical past Month, we caught up with Frerson with a number of questions on what it is prefer to be a bit of Champagne’s wine story.

The place did you develop up, and when do you first bear in mind changing into conscious of wine?

My ardour for wine was fashioned at an early age. I used to be born and raised in Champagne, although not from a household of winegrowers. Due to household’s mates who owned a winery and produced their very own Champagne, I found the world of wine. I’ve vivid recollections of days spent enjoying between the rows of vines, of the singular odor of the cellars, or of the hectic exercise through the harvest. Immediately, these sensory recollections nonetheless produce the identical pleasure for me!

What made you resolve to pursue wine as a profession?

At 15, after graduating highschool, I selected enology as my future profession, finding out on the prestigious College of Reims. It was pure to go down this path and make a profession in wine. Wine has at all times been a ardour of mine, so with the ability to evolve professionally on this world was simply an apparent determination at the moment.

Was it onerous to get into the enology/viticulture applications for college?

When the Enology diploma was created, there have been quotas to make sure the presence of ladies on this male-dominated area. These quotas had been lifted a number of years earlier than I began, however there have been only some of us girls within the business nonetheless. I’ve had the possibility to have a really supportive household, actually encouraging me to pursue my ardour.

Do you’re feeling that it was onerous for males within the business to take you severely at first? Or has the business been open to girls in wine for some time the place you might be?

I’ve had the possibility to get steering and inspiration from nice male winemakers through the early levels of my profession, giving me confidence and legitimacy.

Immediately, as one of many few females to carry such a Cellar Grasp place in Champagne and the primary to carry such a place within the over 200-year historical past of Perrier-Jouët, I attempt to be an instance for youthful generations, and I work loads with different girls leaders within the business to showcase profitable feminine figures within the wine world, hopefully unlocking aspirations.

What has been your favourite a part of your job?

There are numerous issues I think about my favourite a part of my job! I cherished working with Hervé Deschamps, my predecessor, for 2 years, tasting, strolling within the winery, connecting with nature, attending to know all of the subtleties of the Chardonnay signature of the Perrier-Jouët cuvées over the time, and imagining what it may style like sooner or later.

Perrier-Jouët is a Home with loads of soul and a deep reference to its historical past. Particularly, I really feel a particular affinity for the spirited younger lady whose title is one half of Maison Perrier-Jouët, Rose-Adélaïde Jouët. Fairly aside from the romance of her relationship with Pierre-Nicolas Perrier, I see Rose-Adélaïde Jouët as a girl of character and independence. She took an energetic position in receiving guests and presenting the Home and its cuvées. She positioned nice significance on change and conviviality, which is precisely what I do myself. I might by no means, for instance, style wines alone – it is an expertise I at all times need to share with others.

What do you convey to the wine business (or that girls normally convey) that helps make it higher?

Any time a brand new perspective involves the desk, it is a win for the wine business. As girls, it is pure that now we have completely different life experiences and distinctive views that we convey to all elements of our work. For my tasting committee, I really like to assemble folks, males, and girls, after all, with completely different experiences and sensibilities. This complementarity is a richness when tasting, permitting us to achieve nuances of the Perrier-Jouët fashion.

What are a few of your targets for taking the model ahead?

Because the eighth Perrier-Jouët Cellar Grasp, one among my largest targets for this historic Maison is to spearhead main initiatives in sustainable viticulture.

The founders of Maison Perrier-Jouët had been identified for his or her progressive concepts on viticulture and winery administration. The Home had a status for producing fine-quality grapes and punctiliously nurtured vineyards. Immediately, as we proceed to evolve in symbiosis with nature, we’re transitioning in the direction of a mannequin impressed by regenerative viticulture with a purpose to protect the delicate ecosystem of our vineyards.

In case you may work with any grape, no matter local weather or location, what wouldn’t it be?

Chardonnay, after all! Chardonnay is the signature grape number of Perrier-Jouët. The founders recognized, in 1811, Chardonnay, particularly from the Côte des Blancs, as the proper selection to supply elegant and floral champagnes. At the moment, it was an audacious determination as Chardonnay is essentially the most difficult selection to develop in Champagne. Ever since, Chardonnay has been the spine of the Home fashion, bringing intricacy, floral notes, and a singular mouthfeel to all of the Perrier-Jouët cuvées.