Toulouse. Julian Pallaruelo, First Wine Master of Haute-Garonne
The start of the new school year is off to a good start for Julian Pallaruelo, who has been at the helm for eight years at the Cave des Bouchons in Lardenne. This 34-year-old from Toulouse has just obtained the title of Maître Caviste de la Haute-Garonne, thus becoming the first professional to obtain this quality label for this activity, after those well known of Maître Restaurateurs, Maître Fromager, Maître Sommelier, or again Master Artisan Baker…
“This title created in 2017 by the Fédération des Cavistes Indépendants represents recognition of the profession, he recalls. It is also a factor of creation, visibility and trust among craftsmen and consumers. There are about thirty of us in France and I am very proud to lead the way for Haute-Garonne”.
“I have a cellar of 1,500 wine references and a hundred beers, he explains, without forgetting 300 spirits. We also eat at the table from organic products grown independently in our vegetable garden”.
Julian discovered his passion for wine very early. After studying at the Ecole Hôtelière de Toulouse at the age of 14, he obtained a techno baccalaureate with honors in sommellerie and refined his knowledge in various restaurants such as the Nez Rouge at Les Carmes or in Paris, at the Verre Volé, a pioneering establishment in the development of the sommelier and unmissable meeting of the winegrowers. “The age of the place is essential, he recalls. Wine cellars have experienced great development since the covid. The place must therefore have “bottle” if we can say so. Then the transmission. For my part, I hire apprentices and trainees whom I introduce to winegrowers, brewers but also restaurateurs, catering trades so that they learn about new trends and feed on stories and anecdotes around the human, heart of this profession. Finally, a label which requires consistency in the selection of wines by promoting small producers and unearthing those of tomorrow. Transmitting an emotion is also this, this profession”, he concluded.