Our wine experts
At Grain de Sail Wines, each product is scrupulously selected according to strict standards.
To ensure this level of quality, they have to go through our wine director, a sommelier and a top-level wine shop director. Only a consensus amongst those passionate tasters will grant a bottle a spot in the hull of our cargo sailboat’s floating cellar.
Our team
Jean Samuel Boussemart
Certified Sommelier
Background: Technical Degree in Hospitality with a Major in Sommellerie
Wine Icon: Eric Baumard
Wine Appetence: L’Étincelle – Mas Cal Demoura / Terrasses du Larzac
Fav Dish: Beef’s Tartare “au couteau”
A Song: Wonderwall – Oasis
Matthieu Riou
US Wines & Spirits Director
Background: MSC International Negotiation – WSET 3
Wine Icon: Pascaline Lepeltier
Wine Appetence: Ordovicien – Domaine de Bablut / Anjou
Fav Dish: My Father’s Spaghetti Vongole
A Song: Everyday – A$AP Rocky
Armel Moisan
Top-level Wine Shop Director
Background: Wine Shop Manager Diploma / 10y in the wine business
Wine Icon: Marie-Hélène Merrien
Wine Appetence: Macération – Jérôme Bretaudeau / Muscadet
Fav Dish: Kig Ha Farz
A Song: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears – Sugarfoot
We need to taste
To select the best products, Matthieu has been travelling the country and visiting every single winemaker we work with. In the vineyards, in the cellars, and with the winemakers, Matthieu is able to understand their work and their wines. We feel this is not only important but a true prerequisite to our selection process.
We meet to taste
Because we always try to find a consensus amongst our three wine experts, we frequently organize tastings between us and debate about wines. Each bottle, each vintage, each profile is closely analyzed to ensure the quality and uniqueness of all products that we ship to NYC.
