Uncorked: Guillaume Places

Guillaume Places is the assistant general manager of Salvatore Calabrese’s new bar, Maison Eight in Tsim Sha Tsui. Places studied hospitality and F&B management at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon and worked in a succession of hotels and restaurants before moving to Hong Kong three years ago. He joined Maison Eight in November to coordinate its launch and look after its wine list which has a focus on ‘forgotten vines’ and lesser-known producers.  Places speaks to dbHK about his first wine memory of drinking a Chateau Haut Brion Blanc 1989, and Champagne and caviar being his two greatest vices.

What vintage are you? 

1989 – one of the top vintages for Bordeaux and Champagne…

What bottle sparked your love of wine?

My first memory of wine was a Château Haut Brion Blanc 1989 (lucky me!)… It really sparked my love for white wines and especially dry Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux.

What would you be as a wine?

On a good day, a Gamay from Beaujolais: easygoing with a nice intensity and sweetness. On a bad day, I’m definitely a Pinot Blanc from Burgundy: harsh, full of tension, passion and character and needs to be handled with care!

Where are you happiest?

With my team in the restaurant. Wine is all about creating an emotion amd sharing a moment.. We base all of our training on sharing these emotions with our guests.

What’s your greatest vice?

A bottle of Blancs de Noirs Champagne with a spoonful of Russian Caviar..

Best advice you ever received?

“What matters is not the situation but how we handle it. Be generous and kind, show empathy – people will remember you for that.”

Most overused word?

“Wine expert.” It’s a term I hear all the time in Hong Kong. The wine scene here somehow lost its soul at one point. We see restaurants not selling any bottle of wine at all because we, the professionals, have somehow made it too complicated. That needs to change as wine is such a beautiful thing.

Being a wine expert doesn’t mean that you need to know 100% about all the grapes varieties, etc. We work in hospitality; if you are a wine expert (or claim to be one) you must be able to sell your wine for the emotion they will provide. And the only way to do that is to understand and share feelings with your guests.

Your cellar’s underwater, which bottle would you dive in and save?

Can I please save two? First one would be a bottle of Nuits Saint Georges Blanc, Domaine Guyon, 2001, maybe not the best vintage but it’s a rocking wine!

The second one would definitely a bottle of L’Interdit, from Jules Desjourneys in Beaujolais. That gentleman is a superstar!

What’s the best and worst thing about the wine business?

I remember a few years ago, we did a dinner tasting with Yves Cuilleron (Rhone Valley producer) here in Hong Kong and the happiness in his eyes to see his wines being sold here in Asia was the most touching thing. I love to see the happiness a glass of wine can give, both for the person who enjoys it and for the one who made it.

The worst thing comes back to the most overused word: “wine experts”.

What’s on your wine bucket list?

There’s so many, let’s pick five: Vin de Savoie Mondeuse Domaine Lupin 2014; Moulin-à-Vent Jules Desjourneys 2008; Gantenbein Graubunden Pinot Noir 2008; Jacquesson Cuvee 735; Château Guiraud ‘G de Guiraud’ 2013 and Bouzeron Domaine Ramonet 2009 (oops, that’s six).

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, Freddy Mercury, Leo Tolstoy and Charles Baudelaire… that would be quite a table.

Personal satisfaction (Parker points – out of 100)

93 – still young and a lot of things still to improve!

Which wine would you like served at your funeral?

Château Haut Brion Blanc – 1989 – Magnum or Jeroboam please and chilled!