Passionate and fascinating, Clotilde Mengin talks about wines with simplicity, without emphasis, without jargon. She gets to the point: the tastes and desires of her customers. Whether in the dining room in a sommelier role or in the boutique as a wine merchant, she analyzes, directs, advises. It matches expectations with the many bottles in the cellar. Wine is his domain. She likes to discover it among the winegrowers to better transmit it in the Nancy establishments of the Mengin family. She knows how to find the right words to express the qualities, specify the terroir, tell the story of the women and men who do it. Hungry for knowledge, she is always on the lookout for new things.
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By sharing the life of Jean-Sébastien Mengin, Clotilde has at the same time rubbed shoulders with the world of catering. Her husband is the son of Danièle and Jean-Luc Mengin, emblematic restaurateurs of Nancy. Their “Goéland” was starred until they changed direction and style by opening two adjoining restaurants: ” Dandelions “And” Wines and toast “. Jean-Sébastien took over from his parents. “I was integrated when the transition started,” explains Clotilde. “Jean-Luc asked me if I would like to join the family business. I couldn’t even carry a plate or take an order! I accepted and learned everything gradually. I discovered the codes of service with a benevolent team. “
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Meetings
Originally from Isère, near Bourgoin-Jallieu, Clotilde came to Lorraine to study at the law school of Nancy. Holder of a master’s degree in corporate law and one in health law, she was preparing to join a law firm when this career was offered to her. Danièle Mengin, wine expert, took it under her wing. “She told me that she realized that I was prepared to go to sommellerie. I remember the trip we both made to Nice, notably going to meet several winegrowers from the Rhône Valley. I watched her, listened to her, we spoke with the producers, we tasted… She told me that I could take over. I worked a lot. In particular, I understood that to sell wine, you shouldn’t stop at the finished product, but you have to know who made it, where and how. “
Clotilde Mengin had already been educated in wine by her parents, grandparents, great uncles and aunts, all great amateurs… She passed professional by training in the cellar and in the rooms and also by studying. She attended the Suze-la-Rousse Wine University , the École des vins de Paris, the University of Strasbourg to refine its knowledge of Alsatian terroirs. “There is a great diversity of terroir in Alsace,” she explains. “This region goes far beyond varietal wines. A Riesling from one sector will be totally different from another from a terroir otherwise exposed with a specific soil. “
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Emotion first
This knowledge of the terroirs and the winegrowers, not just Alsatian obviously, leads him to orient his clients on wines they would not have chosen straight away. “Saying that you don’t like the wine of a region is like saying that you don’t like vegetables because you’ve tasted broccoli! There is such diversity that you can find interesting things everywhere. It is my role, whether with the guests or with the people who come to buy bottles in the twin store at Vins et Tartines. Wine is first of all the land, the grapes, the work of the winegrower. I explain it all. My job is to transmit. You have to take wine for what it really is. It is the emotion it provides that is important. Whatever the notoriety. “
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Clotilde Mengin highlights the wines of her adopted region. She speaks with fervor of the Auxerre des Côtes de Toul as she praises the qualities of bottles from Moselle or Meuse. She knows how to make you want a great Volnay as much as a Jura wine made from an unknown grape variety: the Red tail melon! It does not popularize wine, it makes it understandable, affordable, appreciable. “Choosing a wine is not taking an exam! There is no complex to have. Just fun. “
Wines and Tartines, 25 bis rue des Ponts, 54000 Nancy. 03.83.35.17.25.
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