Youth and education Born in 1981, in Châteauroux (Indre) to parents from the Castelroussins region, Estelle Touzet learned
baking and
pastry-making at the age of five, from her two grandmothers in
Issoudun. Her grandfathers introduced her to the
wines of the Loire Valley, particularly
Reuilly,
Quincy,
Chinon,
Menetou-Salon and
Sancerre, at Sunday dinners. She completed her secondary education at the Collège Les Capucins in Châteauroux. It was there that her history-geography teacher, Denis Hervier, and her German teacher, Jean-Louis Rizet, introduced her to the world of
wine and
gastronomy. After graduating in 1995, with a
baccalauréat in hotel and catering,
Career path badge. In 2003, she entered the job market,
Gilles Pudlowski wrote of her: "She impresses with her liveliness, naturalness and the pertinence of her choices in a three-star restaurant where she knows how to keep her identity. [...] Thanks to her, a dream meal is good, honest, fruity and pleasurable". in 2011. In 2015, Estelle Touzet became head sommelier at the
Ritz Paris for its reopening after four years of renovation. She was also involved in the development of a computer system to manage the cellar and wine invoicing more efficiently. Her day-to-day work then included buying bottles, designing the wine list, training teams and providing service in the restaurants and lounges. or
gamay with ravioli carbonara with peanut and bacon cream. At the same time, she gave lectures at several hotel schools in France. In 2019, Estelle Touzet was part of the jury for the final of the
34th Best Apprentices of France competition, in the "
Arts de la table" (Tableware) specialization. In September 2020, as the hotel and restaurant industry faced the
health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19, Estelle Touzet left her position at the Ritz Paris; her decision was motivated by "a change in personal life" and the setting of new professional goals, in particular her wish to create a new consulting company, specializing in wine-related projects. She was a guest on
Tout le monde joue en cuisine, a program hosted by
Nagui on
France 2 on 22 September 2020.
Publications • With • The sommelier is also regularly interviewed for food and wine pairing tips in national media such as ''
L'Express, France 2, RTL, France Inter, and
Madame Figaro. • Knight of the
Order of Agricultural Merit (order of 31 January 2019). • 2011: ''Sommelier de l'année
(Sommelier of the year) by Guide Pudlowski''; • 2012: ''Prix du sommelier de l'Académie internationale de la gastronomie'' (International Academy of Gastronomy Sommelier Award);
Private life At the age of seven, In her spare time, she played in two groups, the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Paris and Les Ondes Plurielles. In 2017, she confided that this activity complemented her profession as sommelier, when she directed, "like an orchestra conductor", the cellar of the
Ritz Paris: == Positions ==