Le Meurice, Paris, Luxury 5 Star Hotels Paris

• Restaurant le Meurice
• Restaurant Le Dali
• Bar 228
• In-Room Dining
• Profiles
  • Yannick Alléno
  • Camille Lesecq
  • Nicolas Rebut
  • William Oliveri
• Floorplan
• Restaurant Enquiry Form

Nicolas Rebut, Head Sommelier at Le Meurice

Nicolas Rebut, Head Sommelier at Le Meurice hotel in Paris, discovered his passion for wine tasting at university. After studying for two years in Tain l’Hermitage, he achieved his first internship at Bernard Loiseau for four months, where he specialised in Burgundy wines. Nicolas then continued his training at Louis XV restaurant in Monaco for another four months before Alain Ducasse offered him the position of commis sommelier, which he gladly accepted. After five years of working at Ducasse’s Louis XV, Nicolas was promoted to Head Sommelier, responsible for the impressive 1,000 square metre cellars containing 500 000 bottles of the finest wines. Rebut recalls, “It was a fantastic experience, the best lesson in my life”.

Having finished school at 23 to become a head Sommelier in a three Michelin-star restaurant by 27, is a rarity in the industry and a massive achievement. Nicolas then arrived at Le Meurice in 2005, and transformed the hotel’s cellar with the acquisition of some of the finest and rarest wines in the world.

Exciting recent developments at Le Meurice have seen Nicolas create a range of beautiful wine glasses exclusive to the hotel as well the stunning Philippe Starck renovations to the ground floor of the hotel and restaurant. Here, the cellars are now on display to dinners and a new private “nook”, surrounded by glass walls displaying hundreds of bottles, has been introduced in the dining-room. This provides a perfect area for a more intimate dining experience.  Nicolas is delighted with the changes, “since 2007 and the Philippe Starck refurbishment, the gastronomic restaurant holds a special place at the hotel with the wine cellar’s visibility from the dining-room, and in which a couple can dine in all intimacy, surrounded by fantastic bottles of wine”.

One cannot help but wonder which wines a Head Sommelier prefers; a question that many sommeliers try to avoid, but one which Nicolas Rebut answers without any hesitation: the Grands Blancs de Bourgogne and his top choice being the Hermitage Cuvée Cathelin millésimé 1990 from Jean-Louis Chave. One of his fondest wine moments was when Chef Yannick Alléno opened a Chateaux Latour 1961? “ Yannick Alléno and I think very much alike, which is extremely important as my wines are selected to complement his delicious creations”.