Séverine Frerson

AFFINITY & ASPIRATION

Séverine Frerson, cellar master of Perrier-Jouët, feels a special affinity with Rose-Adélaïde Jouët who founded the House with Pierre-Nicolas Perrier. She identifies with certain aspects of her personality such as her strong and independent character. When Séverine Frerson looked through Maison Perrier-Jouët’s archives, she discovered that Rose-Adélaïde Jouët took an active role in receiving visitors and presenting the House and its cuvées. She placed great importance on exchange and conviviality, which is exactly what Séverine Frerson does herself.

I am fascinated by Ephemera, a work commissioned by Perrier-Jouët from the designer duo Mischer’Traxler. It is a large oak table inlaid with different plant motifs – ferns, fungi, flowers –that retreats back into the table when anyone approaches. It raises all sorts of questions about our relationship with nature, and indeed about the essence of life itself.

TEXTURES OF WINE

When it comes to tasting wines, Séverine Frerson’s personal sensibility emphasises texture. Even as a child, she remembers feeling compelled to touch the leaves and the grapes on the vine. She has honed her sense of touch for over two decades in the profession until it has become almost as important to her as her sense of smell. Now, as cellar master, she is drawing her team into her innovative approach, linking Maison Perrier-Jouët’s language of flowers with the language of texture as she sets her sights on ever greater precision and perfection.

A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Perpetuating the style and quality of the House while ushering it into a new era is how Séverine Frerson sees her mission as Maison Perrier-Jouët’s 8th cellar master. Having evolved in symbiosis with nature since it was founded, Maison Perrier-Jouët is stepping up its environmental initiatives to meet ambitious targets. Navigating the vagaries of climate and spearheading new, more sustainable methods of viticulture are just a few of the challenges that Séverine Frerson hopes to overcome in the next few years while relying on her passion and inspiration, as well as her incredible energy and creativity.