Sommelier On Call

It is not uncommon for wine collectors here to engage a sommelier to manage and curate their cellars, and also advise on pairings for hosted dinners. We find out more from sommelier and movie producer STÉPHANIE RIGOURD of The Vintage Club.

- MAVIS TEO

It is a rare occasion when a sommelier puts down a glass to dabble in filmmaking, but that was what Stéphanie Rigourd did just before the pandemic hit. Her wine movie and documentary Tous Les Goûts Sont dans La Nature (French for There's No Accounting for Taste), which premiered at Alliance Française de Singapour in mid-2021, showcased French wine producers for what's currently the most trending topic in the industry: organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines.

This project is yet another feather to Rigourd's cap. Throughout most of her career, which is based in Singapore, she had worked and consulted for some of the biggest names in town after relocating here from her homeland France.

In 2009, two years after earning her diploma as a sommelier from the renowned hospitality institute of Tain L'Hermitage in Rhone Valley, Rigourd was offered a job at Hilton Singapore by its former general manager, who had met her while touring the region. Her credentials would later include serving locally and regionally at hospitality brands Hilton, Conrad and Raffles, and as a private sommelier at corporate and VIP events, hosted by hotelier Ong Beng Seng, where she selected and served wines to luminaries and ministers including the late Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.