The Master of Science (MSc) Wine & Hospitality Management, created in October 2020 by EHL Hospitality Business School and KEDGE Wine School, is a program that allows students to develop a wide range of skills in order to reach management positions in the wine and hospitality sectors.
EHL Hospitality Business School and the KEDGE Wine School want students of the program to become committed players in the future of the wine and hospitality sectors, capable of innovating and understanding the key success factors in the current context by developing their management skills and strategic vision. To support them in this objective, students will be able to count on the expertise of the two sponsors of this year’s cohort.
Anne-Sophie Pic and Marc Almert have agreed to become the sponsors of the new cohort of students in order to pass on their experience and dedication, and to highlight the links between the wine industry and the hotel and restaurant industry.
Anne-Sophie Pic, self-taught woman and tightrope walker of flavors
Anne-Sophie Pic was not predestined for cooking, she originally went to business school (ISG in Paris) with the desire to work in the luxury industry. After her studies, she returned to Valence, her hometown, and decided to devote herself to her true passion: cooking. In 1991, she took over the gastronomic restaurant of her father Jacques Pic.
In 2007, she was awarded 3 stars at the legendary family restaurant in Valence. She became the first French woman to be awarded three Michelin stars for a restaurant in France since Mère Brazier in 1933. In addition to her 10 Michelin stars, which makes her the most starred female chef in the world, her work in the service of the emotion of taste has earned her several awards such as the Veuve Clicquot, San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards, which named her the World’s Best Female Chef in 2011.
The story of Anne-Sophie Pic is also the story of the couple she has formed with David Sinapian for over twenty years. Two complementary personalities are at the head of six restaurants, from Valencia to Singapore.
Anne-Sophie Pic is audacious, searching for balance, aromatic complexity but also delicacy. The chef is always on the move. She is a tightrope walker of flavors perpetually searching for new and complex flavour combinations.
She works with neglected or forgotten ingredients such as beetroot, turnip or cabbage. She approaches ingredients in their entirety to explore all their possible uses in cooking. Ingredients, cooking methods and techniques are constantly evolving to offer guests an impressive and surprising tasting experience.
Marc Almert, Best Sommelier of the World 2019
Marc Almert was just sixteen years old when he completed his International Baccalaureate at the British School of Cologne. Many believed that the gifted young man had the makings of a physicist, lawyer or perhaps a banker. Yet Marc chose a different path — launching into an apprenticeship in the hotel business. He began his vocational training at the prestigious “Excelsior Hotel Ernst” in Cologne, with the goal of eventually becoming a hotel manager. Why do certain wines taste good, and others less so? This simple question proved the catalyst for Marc Almert’s career in wine.
Marc has taken part in many industry competitions. Sommeliers classically pursue their craft alone in restaurants, so competitions provide crucially important feedback on their current level of knowledge. In 2019, Marc Almert took part in ASI Best Sommelier of the world competition in Antwerp. To his surprise, he won the title thus becoming one of three youngest winners of this competition at just 27 years old and the second German to win after Markus Del Monego MW in 1986.
Beyond his self-appointed mission to liberate wine from its conservative image and to present it in accessible ways, nurturing up-and-coming talent is another issue close to Marc’s heart.
Marc was hired as a sommelier in January 2017 at the Restaurant Pavillon in the Baur au Lac, the iconic Zürich hotel. There he worked for two years alongside the Michelin-star francophile cuisine of prize-winning Executive Chef Laurent Eperon, before rising to the rank of Head Sommelier in the summer of 2019. As of January 2022, he is also an executive board member of the wine trade Baur au Lac Vins.