Sommeltime réinvente la sommellerie sur-mesure. Portrait

Sommeltime - Bordeaux Trade

SOMMELTIME is the story of two women with passion for wine, Sarah and Scottie.

A passion that runs through their veins

Sarah Moran was born in Cognac. After a master’s degree in finance, she turned to training at the Kedge Business School, in wine and spirits management. Indeed, raised in the heart of the vineyards, this estate could only excite her. After a first experience in trading in the Purchasing department of Wine and Co, then an integration within Millesima, Sarah wants to “fly on her own”. A crazy bet that she shares then with Scottie, met within Kedge.

Scottie Millot is originally from Dijon. The love of wine is a family affair, her parents owning a beautiful cellar that she inherited. She first worked as a Public Relations Officer in the communications sector, then in diplomacy with the Consul of France for two years. She then decided to join the Master Management of Wines and Spirits in Kedge, where she met Sarah, and continued her career with the Association of Prefiguration of the City of Wine. It wants to combine public relations and the wine sector.

From the love of wine to the desire to undertake

Very quickly, the desire to create their own structure is felt. It must be said that, beyond quality teaching, “the codes of business schools” lack some poetry. In addition, already, there is a desire in them to enhance Bordeaux wines, to rediscover the Côtes de Beaujolais, to develop the image of Cognacs in France.

SOMMELTIME was born from an observation. In fine-mouthed restaurants where the two young women visit from time to time, they realize that wine cards are not necessarily worked or even neglected. In addition, staff are not always trained to best advise food and wine pairings. For a city like Bordeaux, which has vineyards of high quality, this does not seem conceivable. This could be incurred as a risk of disappointing a customer who appreciates the accuracy of the dishes, but is not accompanied on the wines tasted.

Created in the spring of 2015, SOMMELTIME aims to help professionals develop and make a profit from their “wine and spirits” division, especially winemakers and delicatessens, but also offers its services in the wine pairing with the dishes offered in restaurants, to keep a coherence, a common thread that follows the culinary soul of the establishment.


A promising added value in a young market, with potential, led to mature in the coming years. As a watermark, the taste is very present in the consumer to reconnect with the local crafts, to attach meaning to the products, to taste here a delicate “charcutaille” there, again a wine capable of revealing all the aroma of the dishes accompanied, while existing in its own right in the hollow of the palate of the one who tastes it.

founders sommeltime burgundy

“Always wine smells its terroir”

THE clientele of SOMMELTIME is rather eclectic, spread throughout the territory (Paris, Bordeaux, Charente, PACA region). Sometimes it is about “vino-tourists”, passing through Bordeaux, who want to take a tour of the estates, or discover the right addresses with the help of a professional.

The wine business is known to be rather closed. Rather, it is advisable to have a proven professional network beforehand. It is first of all during tastings, meetings that the first customers arrived, the quality of the service and word of mouth doing the rest. The commercial development of the company was also made possible by direct exploration, notably with restaurateurs, then with winemakers and delicatessens, who are very receptive to their added value.

For individuals, Sarah and Scottie accompany their clients in the creation of cellars, in the suggestion of wines according to the tastes and budget of the customer, the creation of custom tasting boxes… They attach great importance not to being influenced in the suggestion of the wines but to remain objective and to focus on the perfect match to the tastes of the customer. There are terroirs to be valued that local consumers have been able to abandon, or whose owners have valued the export… To “return the wines to the French market” is above all to “reconnect the wine with its local consumer”; reconnecting castles with their consumers… It is also a meeting with the winemakers that allows the discovery of the nuggets that Sarah and Scottie can recommend to their customers.

A unique and tailor-made profession: the Personal Wine Shopper

In 2017, Sarah and Scottie intend to expand the service to individuals. If it wasn’t their initial target heart, they found an echo of their know-how thanks to a new profession that they intend to promote, the “Personal Wine Shopper”.

It is for a wine professional to introduce an individual to his tastes in wine, for all events. Bespoke coaching, accessible to all, even at least experienced in wine.

In France, only a few Personal Wine Shoppers are already in business. This is a new profession, in keeping with the need for discovery and understanding of customers in their tasting.

Offering humans in wine may be THE real innovation of SOMMELTIME.

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