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Marc Almert: The man with the Midas touch for wine

by Bettina Bäck

Korean Air, Golden Vine® Awards, and the EHL Hospitality Business School are just three of the noteworthy “side projects” for Baur au Lac and Baur au Lac Vins Chef Sommelier Marc Almert. Marc's subtle sense of wine, his impeccable service, and his dedication to bringing young people to the joys of wine have made him into a high-demand wine expert the world over.

South Korea. 50 new wines will grace flights from Korean Air, starting in March 2023.  The final selection was made by sommelier Marc Almert, after tasting through 150 candidates. He was joined in this effort by sommelier Sang Jun Lee, who helped pick the best pairings for the different

Korean dishes served on board, accounting for the change of taste that occurs at high altitudes. Naturally, a few German Rieslings made the final cut. 

Florence. Liquid Icons was proud to invite guests to Florence for the second annual Golden Vine® Awards, a sign of the fine wine industry's support for diversity and inclusion. As a year ago in London, Marc Almert served as head sommelier, joining with 25 sommelier colleagues in handling the challenging wine service duties for two charity gala dinners. Proceeds will be donated to the Gérard Basset Foundation, which provides scholarships for wine training programs.

Zurich. Although he is in perpetual demand on the international stage, Marc Almert feels most at home at Baur au Lac, where he can fully embrace his role as head sommelier and help guests find wines that will inspire them. And his expertise hasn’t gone unnoticed! Baur's was named one of the top three hotel bars in the 'Swiss Bar Awards' while the Falstaff Bar Guide Switzerland 2023 awarded it the title of Best Wine Restaurant/Bistro, saying: “The extensive wine list, curated by sommelier Marc Almert, has everything your heart might desire.”

As these accolades demonstrate, the lively ambience at Baur au Lac on Lake Zurich is a must for anyone looking for an unforgettable night out...and wines to remember.

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About Marc Almert

Marc’s career started in 2008 at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst in Cologne. He dreamed of becoming a hotel director. Yet a wise supervisor nudged Marc toward his first professional encounter with high-end wines—and soon thereafter his original career plans were put aside in favor of studies as a sommelier. Stations at Restaurant Ente at the Nassauer Hof and Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg followed, before Marc accepted a post as sommelier at the renowned Baur au Lac in Zurich in January 2017.

During Marc's years as a wandering apprentice, his insatiable curiosity drove him to invest as much spare time and energy as possible in sommelier training and competitions. In 2019, at just 27 years of age, this led to his crowning as “ASI Best Sommelier of the World.” Marc Almert has since taken on the position of Chef Sommelier at Baur au Lac and in early 2022 was invited to join the Baur au Lac Vins management team.

Marc Almert

Baur au Lac

Restaurant Pavillon

Talstrasse 1

8001 Zürich

Marc Almert

Bettina Bäck von Wine+Partners
Bettina Bäck
Senior Project Manager

Bettina has been with Wine+Partners since 2002, with countless projects domestic and international under her belt. She currently manages sommelier world champion Marc Almert, the culinary think tank Koch.Campus, the Styrian wineries Weingut Muster.Gamlitz, Weingut Langmann and the STK wineries, the culinary concept store Kärntnerei and the Kozlović wine estate in Istria.