Blame it on the Yquem 1937—the wine that convinced Pascaline Lepeltier to begin her brilliant career in wine. Detouring from a master’s in philosophy and a career as a university teacher, she strangely ended up obsessed with wine.

She began her career at the two star Michelin-rated L’Auberge Bretonne under celebrated Chef Jacques Thorel. Lepeltier started as assistant sommelier and soon presided over a list of more than 4,500 wines. Within a year, Lepeltier was named both Best Loire Valley Young Sommelier and Best Brittany Sommelier.

In 2008 Lepeltier, already the beverage director of the Rouge Tomate group, placed second in the Best Sommelier of France, after training with Eric Beaumard at Paris’ Le George V; it’s the best result ever achieved by a woman in the legendary competition. Lepeltier is a strong advocate of authentic and pure wine; her preferences are reflected in the large number of organic or biodynamic wines on her Rouge Tomate wine list.

Lepeltier’s energy and intensity mark her every move, whether she’s in a vineyard, tasting, surfing or playing piano, ukulele, or tennis. Therefore it’s not surprising that she speaks three languages, has written for various prominent wine guides and books in France, including the Fleurus and Gault Millau, and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Vietnam, Brazil, Russia, and the US.

To top off her meteoric rise in the somm world, she was recently named a StarChefs.com 2010 New York Rising Star.