Q&A with Kévin Davy of Sommelier at Home

The drinks business HK caught up with Kévin Davy, the man behind a private sommelier service for Hong Kong’s wine lovers.

What brought you to Hong Kong?

I’m originally from Provence, then I trained as a wine educator in Paris teaching over 800 people before having this idea to bring fine wine to people’s homes where they can explore them in comfort. I moved to Hong Kong in 2013 to work alongside Thibault Pontallier and Arthur de Villepin, a Hong Kong based wine company that connects art and wine. I then wanted to restart this sommelier service for corporate and private clients once I saw the demand for fine wine in Hong Kong.

How does the wine market differ here to France?

It’s strange because France is ‘the’ wine country and yet there are more fine wines available here. I never had a Romanée-Conti (or a Grand Cru) while I was in France – we’re into appellations and winemakers that many people have not heard of outside of France – but the fine wine market is much more developed here. People are very interested in the big brands, and they’re the ones that need the most explaining.

How many wines will you get through in one evening?

With private events I’ll bring five to six wines for six to 10 people. Then maybe some Champagne to start and whisky to finish. I’ll organise the evenings by theme – for example Vosne-Romanée, then maybe Richebourg then Échezeaux. I aim to recreate exactly the same service as if they were at a restaurant, the wine will be served at exactly the correct temperature and I can provide private chefs to create dishes that will pair excellently with the wine.

Sometimes we go through the customers’ own collections because they have limited time to spend learning about wine in an in-depth way but they want to do it from home.

Which wine suppliers do you use in Hong Kong?

It’s always changing depending on which wines I need but I only work with a few I trust because it’s so important that they’ve imported and stored the wines correctly which can be a big problem here. There quite a few specialist importers with some amazing back vintages that are incredibly difficult to get hold of.

Any particularly memorable evenings?

Actually, wine drinkers here are very self-controlled. They will not drink on a Monday night like it’s a Friday! Saying that though, the police have been called a few times for some evenings that have turned into parties. I have one customer who owns a lovely place near The Peak – a three-storey house with a rooftop. I always feel like I’m in a restaurant when I go there as she has two helpers – one for cooking and one for the service.

The best aspect of the job?

The people for definite. They may have lots of money but they are always very friendly and welcoming. I’m friends with a lot of them and I often go to theirs for dinner – not for work, just for fun. It’s very personal.