Rainier III lycée launches first sommellerie class
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
Four students have begun a new wine specialisation certificate at Lycée Rainier III, with Monte-Carlo SBM's head sommelier as the cohort's patron.
Lycée Rainier III has launched a certificat de spécialisation in sommellerie this autumn, with four students forming the inaugural cohort. The qualification covers sabrage, candlelit decanting, grape variety identification and formal service technique - disciplines that put Monaco's hospitality training on a par with specialist programmes elsewhere in France.
Maxime Pastor, executive head sommelier at Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, has been named patron of the first promotion. His involvement connects the course directly to the Principality's most prominent hospitality group, and signals that the qualification carries genuine professional weight from the outset. For Monaco's hotel and restaurant sector, which competes at the very top of the European market, a local pipeline of trained sommeliers fills a gap that previously required recruitment from abroad.