08/09/2026
Some things never change… Laurent has always known his way around a good bottle. 🍷
A little throwback to 1982, when our very own Laurent was crowned one of France’s best young sommeliers. 19 years old, sharp as a corkscrew, and already making his mark!
Safe to say, the passion for good w**e (and good food) has stuck around. ❤️🇫🇷”
full translation below.....
The ‘Best Sommelier’ Chosen Yesterday at Nice
Hotel School NICE-MATIN — Saturday, 29 May 1982.
They are three young men aged between 17 and 19 whose speciality is identifying as many liqueurs as possible...by smell. And so the jury for the regional final of the Best Sommelier competition crowned them during a cocktail reception held yesterday at the Nice hotel school.
As you will have gathered, the young men are students at the school—the best in their category. Of the seventy candidates entered for the competition, only around ten were selected after the elimination rounds. Yesterday they had to complete four tests, covering respectively their knowledge of the vineyards of France, their knowledge of brandies and liqueurs, and the visual and olfactory identification of around ten liqueurs.
The final, practical test concerned w**e service and matching food with w**e. All this, of course, was carried out without tasting, so that the prize-winners could keep clear heads until the end of the competition.
The jury—made up of Messrs Mézières, an oenological engineer in Orange; Gauttier, president of the Coteaux
d’Aix W**e Committee; and several w**egrowers from the region—was pleased to observe the high standard of the candidates, all final-year students at the hotel school, and especially of the top three: Hervé Cogan, aged 17½, from Marseille (first prize); Denis Royère, aged 18, from Cannes (second prize); and Laurent Lebeau, aged 19, from Avignon (third prize). Before the results were read out, Mr Bloch, the school’s headmaster, praised the quality of the students and thanked everyone who had contributed to the competition’s success—especially its principal organiser, Mr
Ballanche, the oenology teacher, and Mr Bort, head of practical studies.
The three leading prize-winners have therefore been selected to take part in the national final, in which two
students from the Nice hotel school were successful last year.
Among those present at the prize-giving were Mr Verola, municipal councillor representing the Deputy Mayor of Nice; Mr Grossetête, education inspector; and Mr Charpentier, regional tourism delegate.
Photo caption
First-prize winner Hervé Cogan, flanked by Laurent Lebeau (left) and Denis Royère. (Photo: Gilbert Castiès)
