I got the job…

By studying wine. I grew up in France’s Loire Valley, where I went to culinary school and later wine school. During this time, I moved to North Yorkshire for a year to work in a restaurant and practise my English. I returned to the UK to work for Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s as a sommelier. I met chef Jason Atherton when I moved to Maze and when he left to start The Social Company, I went with him. He gave me Social Wine & Tapas as my own project.

My typical day…

Sees me arrive at the restaurant at 9.30am. I check the bookings for the day and make the table plan. Then, I have a briefing with all the restaurant staff – we go through any VIPs that are coming in and I give everyone a section of the room to work. I’ll talk about the wines we’re pushing – I’ll give the waiters each wine’s backstory and things to highlight about its taste.

Our chef makes us all a staff lunch at about 3pm. In the afternoon, I might meet with a wine producer. We have over 900 wines on the list and it’s constantly changing. One of my favourites at the moment is a 2016 Jauma chenin blanc from McLaren Vale in Australia. It’s natural, low-sulphur and it tastes more alive because there are no chemicals masking its flavour.

Besides overseeing the restaurant, I’m usually working on new launches with The Social Company. I travel every couple of months, either to visit independent wine producers or to begin working on a new restaurant I gather teams of sommeliers and create the restaurants’ wine lists. They’re all different depending on the style of the restaurant. For example, if it’s Michelin-starred, I know we’ll need a good range of champagne and burgundy. If it’s more relaxed, I can include more independent producers. I have to think about things like the country’s humidity and wine storage too. I leave work at about midnight.

My most memorable work moment…

Is when Social Wine & Tapas opened. It was my own project, so it felt really personal.

Here’s what it’s really like to drink wine for a living