The portrait of the Sommelière Magali Sulpice

Magali Sulpice comes from Rennes and she always wanted to leave Brittany to go and live in a wine-growing region. When working with Marc Veyrat in Annecy she met Jean, who was a commis de cuisine, and they have been together ever since. In 2002 they moved to Val Thorens and headed the first gastronomic restaurant in the resort, L'Oxalys. In 2006 their hard work and commitment were duly rewarded when the Michelin Guide awarded them a star and in 2010 a second star.

She is passionate about her job as a sommelier and likes to share her knowledge of the terroirs and personality of their wines.

Every year when the restaurant closes for holidays she and Jean go off exploring vineyards and the stories behind them. As they go around exploring and visiting, by chance or else because she has heard of them, she meets the wine producers. Magali takes her time tasting all their vintages and selecting the wines that will appear on the wine list of the Oxalys, featuring 320 different wines.

These wines with strong characters come from all over France and further afield too - Corsica, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. Magali gives a prominent place to Savoy wines, having fallen in love with this wine-growing region as soon as she arrived there.

She also pays close attention to where the products come from, and likes to be able to offer organic wines, grown in a way that respects nature and the vines themselves.

'I always bear in mind Jean's cuisine, which is very subtle, refined and direct. That is why there are a lot more whites than reds on our wine list. Taut, mineral wines.'