I never wanted to attend wine tasting school.
When I launched Tour de Provence France, my bespoke tastings were working, my clients were happy, and the winemakers trusted me. I was well-established in my world. My level of knowledge was sufficient. It satisfied my clients. And, honestly, that suited me.
A friend told me about the Franck Thomas training. The main school was in Antibes, in the South of France.
I always gave the same answer: the discourse of sommeliers, which was too pompous for my taste, did not interest me. This way of speaking about wine as an inaccessible object, reserved for those who “know,” had always bothered me.
He insisted.
One day, I finally watched a YouTube video dedicated to the school.
It was a revelation.
No snobbery. No complicated discourse to impress. No “know-it-all” attitude.
On the contrary: a humble approach to wine. A blind tasting to feel, to listen, to understand without being influenced by a label. To avoid becoming a mere label drinker.
Wine tasting, in this school, was not a posture. It was a commitment.
A sharing.
An immense respect for the winemakers.
And its founder, Franck: humble, smiling, and deeply benevolent.
I was deeply moved.
“Do you want help preparing your CV?” my friend asked, seeing my wonder-struck face.
“Yes, please.”
It was in 2023 that my Franck Thomas adventure began.
I would wake up at 5:30 AM to be at school by 9:00 AM. A lot of traffic in the morning, a little less in the evening. Long, intense days. But I regret nothing.
On the first day, Franck told us:
“You will not leave this school the same. You are going to change personally, profoundly.“
I wondered if it was just a “school” phrase.
It was not.
He was right.
I refocused. I removed the superfluous from my life. I learned to listen differently. To taste differently. To speak about wine differently.
One day, Franck asked a simple question:
“What is a great wine?”
By the end of the training, we had all understood.
A great wine is one that brings you emotion.
If I had to do it all over again, I would take the training again.
It was hard. Intense. Disconcerting. Demanding. Motivating.
And… magical.
Today, this approach to wine—founded on emotion, humility, and respect for winemakers—is at the heart of the experiences I create with Tour de Provence France.
Every tasting I design carries this standard learned at the Franck Thomas school: to feel before judging, to understand before speaking, and above all, to share.
In Provence or elsewhere—in Bordeaux, Alsace, Champagne, or the Loire—let us discover together the emotions that the wines I have chosen can reveal. Combined with art and gastronomy, these moments take on yet another dimension.
The Franck Thomas School
The Franck Thomas School was founded by Franck Thomas, Best Sommelier in Europe and Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
The school advocates a unique approach to wine tasting:
-
blind tasting as a central learning tool
-
sensory understanding before technical discourse
-
respect for the work of winemakers
-
accessible transmission, without elitism
The philosophy is based on a powerful idea: wine is not an intellectual exercise, but an encounter.
An emotion.
A link between a land, an artisan, and the person tasting.
