Trade invited to celebrate the life of Gerard Basset

The life of Gerard Basset OBE, MS, MW, MBA, MSc (OIV) will be celebrated at a service of thanksgiving in Winchester in June, with all members of the wine trade invited to attend.

Basset passed away on 16 January following a brave battle against cancer of the oesophagus.

Gerard’s wife Nina and son Romané confirmed details of a memorial service yesterday, which will be held at Winchester Cathedral on Friday, 14 June, at 11am. 

Following the service, a reception will be held at The Guildhall, Winchester.

The family has close personal ties to the city of Winchester, not least because it is home to the original Hotel du Vin, which Basset co-founded in 1994.

Members of the wine and hospitality industries are invited to attend the service and reception.

However it would be appreciated if those wishing to attend email inmemoriam@culturalcomms.co.uk by 30 May to give an indication of numbers.

Born in 1957, Basset arrived in the UK from France in the 1980s, having originally trained as a chef, but quickly discovered a taste for wine and switched his focus to becoming a sommelier.

Basset’s career really took flight in 1988, when he became head sommelier at the Michelin-starred Chewton Glen in the New Forest, Hampshire.

Nina Basset (right) and Romané Basset (left) in London last week for the inaugural awarding of the Chaîne de Rotisseurs GB Gerard Basset Tasting Trophy

He earned his Master Sommelier qualification in 1989 and became an MW in 1998.

In 2007, Basset opened the renowned wine-focused TerraVina, a boutique luxury hotel in the heart of the New Forest, in Hampshire, with his wife, Nina.

Last year the couple scaled the business back to a bed and breakfast (Spot in the Woods), as Basset’s health deteriorated.

In 2010, he won the World Sommelier Championship, which was followed by an OBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to hospitality.

While undergoing treatment, Basset wrote his memoirs, which will be published in due course.

For more on Basset’s outstanding contribution to the wine trade, and his work in supporting and nurturing the next generation of sommeliers, click here to read our last interview with him, conducted in the autumn of last year.