Guillaume VERGER

Head sommelier : 1 restaurant Winner of the Sommelier Bretagne 2024 trophy, Guillaume Verger now looks after one of Brittany's finest wine cellars at La Butte restaurant in Plouider.

Presentation

Like many of his colleagues, Guillaume Verger entered the restaurant business after attending a job fair in ninth grade. It wasn't really a revelation, but it's a field that attracted me," he explains. I grew up in the countryside, in a farming family, half an hour from Rennes. I liked eating well, I was interested in the products, but it was above all the professions in the dining room that attracted me, I had no doubts whatsoever."

A talent spotted by his teachers

At the Saint-Méen-le-Grand hotel school, the young man attracted the attention of his teachers with his ability to taste winestasting wines, memorizing AOPs and grape varieties... "It seemed almost natural to me, I was interested in it, I remembered it all quite naturally. So I decided to take a complementary diploma in sommellerie."

After stints at the Auberge des Templiers, in Boismorand - "a very classic cellar, but an enriching experience " -, and at a wine merchant in Dinard, France, I decided to take a complementary sommelier course.and at a wine shop in Dinan, Guillaume joined the Hôtel du Castellet to work with Fabien Ferré, Christophe Bacquié's sommelier. "An immense and magnificent cellar. After a year, when I could have stayed on, I chose to move to London to perfect my English."

In London, he regularly serves members of the royal family.

Guillaume Verger settled not far from Buckingham Palace, at the Goring Hotel: "The members of the royal family came there very regularly, I made some unforgettable encounters and it also enabled me to perfect my knowledge of the world's wines." In September 2018, the young man crossed the Channel to settle in Plouider, somewhat by chance. "I sent around ten CVs to nice establishments that were recruiting, while swearing to myself that I would only choose Brittany as a last resort. I got on so well with Nicolas and Solène Conraux that I perjured myself," he adds with a laugh. I've been here for six years now, and I've never regretted my choice."

Since his arrival, the cellar has grown from a hundred to over 500 references, opening up to the world (USA, Austria, Argentina, Italy...) and focusing more than ever on the productions of small independent winegrowers. An expertise crowned by the Trophée Sommelier Bretagne 2024.