Discovering the Halle aux Grains' extraordinary cellar

Michel and Sébastien Bras' La Halle aux Grains restaurant, housed in the former wheat market of the Paris Bourse de Commerce, has a number of special features. Firstly, its setting, with a view of the Saint-Eustache church on the outside, but also of the dome fresco signed by Tadao Ando, on the inside. Then there's the kitchen, where grain (barley, spelt, buckwheat, hemp, etc.) is used in new and surprising ways throughout the meal. In keeping with this focus on grain, the chefs and their teams have created a cellar that is unique in France, made up exclusively of cuvées that appear only on the Halle aux Grains menu.

Grape variety before appellation

When they launched the project for this new Parisian restaurant, Michel and Sébastien Bras collaborated with their usual team, starting with their sommelier Sergio Calderon, who has worked alongside them at Laguiole for many years. When the chefs explained to him that they were going to create a repertoire of some fifty cereals and other legumes to pay homage to grains in this historic venue, Sergio Calderon took them at their word. "I thought I'd do a grape card," he recalls. "The idea is to present the wines by their grape varieties (pinot noir, cabernet, negrette, carignan, etc.) and not their appellation. It's both playful and provocative in a country like France", he laughs. Léa Kafando, Maître d'hôtel at La Halle aux Grains, confirms: "International customers aren't really surprised, as this is done a lot abroad. But for the French, it's more confusing. On the wine list, the name of the grape variety is written in bold and is more prominent than the appellation or the name of the winemaker. This makes it possible to highlight cuvées that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Now everyone's on the same level," she maintains. "It also proves that you can get two completely different results from the same grain."

For Sergio Calderon, the idea behind this unusual menu is also to democratize the approach to wine. "We need to break away from well-known names and expensive labels. Wine is a beverage that has always accompanied us in the history of mankind, in moments of celebration and sharing. It's a mistake to make it too complex! I have a lot of respect for the people we work with, but I also put myself in the consumer's shoes and often ask myself what they want. And for me, the answer is simple: they want emotion. It has to be good, nothing more!"

© Jean-Louis BELLURGET - Emma Feriaud

Cuvées created especially for Halle aux Grains

But this way of presenting wines is not the only distinctive feature of the Halle aux Grains cellar. The 40 or so cuvées on offer were created exclusively for the restaurant, and are available nowhere else. To put together this unique collection of 25,000 bottles, Sergio Calderon criss-crossed France in 2018 to convince winemakers to go beyond appellations and focus on the grape variety. "A lot of big names in the field agreed to play the game, like Anne Vatan, who made us a Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre, or Denis Durantou (who has since passed away) and his Merlot in Pomerol," Sergio Calderon lists. "Initially, around thirty producers joined the adventure. Today, there are around forty, with 20 white wines, 20 red wines and 2 rosés", adds Léa Kafando.

But there's no question of frustrating customers. If they've enjoyed a wine available only at Halle aux Grains, it's now possible to take a bottle to go. "We've been doing this for about a year now. All our cuvées are available for sale, with the exception of one which has very limited stock. We offer a 30% discount for customers who wish to take a bottle home", explains the maître d'. A great way to extend the pleasure of tasting at home.