About Pasqualé

As a young boy, I spent many summers at my uncle's farm in Pompeii south of Italy, barefoot, crushing grapes. My cousins and I danced arm in arm in the giant vat while my father and uncles secretly enjoyed our laughter in the distance. From these first memories of wine sprouted my love of this astonishing and multifarious liquid.

I grew up in Switzerland and carried out the majority of my schooling there, but my parents, being Italian, wanted me to have a little "Latin Education" and I was packed subsequently to the Hotel College in Sorrento. After graduation, I traveled to Germany and then to London, where I assumed the position of Junior Sommelier at the Savoy Hotel, my first professional position in the wine industry. After an exceptionally cold and dreary winter in London, I moved to the Cayman Islands in search of warmer weather. There, I worked at Chef Tell's Grand Old House as Head Sommelier, where my responsibilities extended beyond the service of wine to include the creation of the wine list.

After working in the uncorking of wine for several years, I felt the need to see how it was bottled in the first place! I began as an apprentice cellar worker at Château Prieuré - Lichine, Margaux France, owned by Mr. Alexis Lichine and supervised by their oenologist, Mr. Emile Peynaud. I simultaneously attended the University of Bordeaux II Institute of Oenology, where I received a certificate in aptitude and dégustation of wine (DUAD). After this rewarding experience at the Château, I worked as a Sommelier in one of the most prestigious restaurants in Bordeaux, the 2 star Michelin St. James Restaurant in Bouliac. 

Although some of my favorite wines come from Bordeaux, I am intrigued by all wines, and this prompted a nine-month visit to New Zealand, where I participated in the wine courses of Bob Campbell MW and Montana Wines. In the same spirit, I made an extended tour of the American wine-producing states of Washington, Oregon and California, where I had the pleasure of participating in wine tasting with Robert Mondavi.

My love of good weather brought me back, once again, to the Caribbean, this time to Saint Barthélemy, where I became the Assistant Wine Sales Manager at La Cave du Port Franc. This position enabled me to gain a greater appreciation of which wines are more suited to a tropical climate. 

And now, I have summoned, since 1998, all of my experience and acquired the knowledge to create St Barth's Wine a modest purveyor of fine wines & gastronomic excellence devoted to the enhancement of your stay in the unique and colorful Caribbean community of Saint Barthélemy. 

Pasqualé IRACE
Your Wine Guy in St Barths