Growing up in the Loire Valley and detouring from a career as a philosophy teacher, Pascaline Lepeltier is a sommelier based in Manhattan, NY. After working in Michelin-star restaurants in France, she moved to New York City to open and run the Michelin-star Rouge Tomate beverage program for 10 years. Her wine list was quickly recognized and in 2017 was named “Best Wine List in World” by The World of Fine Wine. In 2018 she joined as a partner Racines NY, one of the top wine destinations of NYC. She is currently working on the opening of a new wine restaurant on 94 Chambers in Manhattan with wine guru David Lillie. She passed the Master Sommelier in 2014, and became the first woman to win the Best French Sommelier competition in 2018. This year she also became a MOF, “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” in sommellerie. She teaches with the Wine Scholar Guild, and is a regular guest speaker for international congress and seminars. Pascaline writes a monthly tribune for the most important French wine publication, La Revue du Vin de France, and is preparing her first solo book, to be published in 2022. Finally, she makes a little bit of natural wines from organic historical hybrids with her partner Nathan Kendall in the Finger Lakes, NY, under the label chëpìka. She loves Chenin Blanc, Cantillon and Chartreuse.

Photo credit - Cedric Angeles