Davide Dargenio, Head Sommelier at Hotel Suisse Majestic in Montreux
By Marie Linder | October 8, 2015
Davide is a young Italian waiter, native of Puglia, he grew up in Milan with his family. His father, a Chef, will be his first link with the world of wine and gastronomy. Davide loves smells that rise from the kitchen, but he is less attracted to working there, so he turned to the indoor service and imagines himself a happy bartender.
He followed the renowned Carlo Porta hotel school in Milan and it is by listening to his teacher Giuseppe Vaccarini (Best Sommelier of the World in 1978) that the young Davide decided without hesitation what he wanted to do later. After his training he lived two years in England, where he became multilingual and practiced his craft.
He got the place of assistant Head Sommelier at Chalet d'Adrien in Verbier. Then on October 15, 2013, he joined the team of the Hotel Suisse Majestic in Montreux. His objective was to improve the service and raise the level of the restaurant staff. Gault Millau awarded the restaurant an extra point, which is certainly the result of his desire to pass on his passion to others, of course with the help of his team.
Davide Dardegno manages a wine list of more than 600 references, He loves offering many wines by the glass to his customers and he insists they must remain affordable because wine is meant to be discovered and shared.
The sommelier also sees wine as something playful and enjoys serving wines blind which will trigger conversations about the tasting. He always tries to surprise by choosing particular wines with very different personalities.
Innitially in his career, Davide was tasted many Bordeaux but he now admits a weakness for Burgundian Pinot. He also likes Chardonnays of this region and if launched on the subject, he is inexhaustible on the subject. He also mentions the Nebbiolos of Piedmont, Nerello Mascalese grown on the slopes of Etna and of course the Swiss wines that occupy more than 55% of the wine list! Davide evokes the Pinot and Completer of Grisons, Petite Arvine and Paën of Valais, Chasselas of the canton of Vaud, Merlot of Ticino and all the wineries visited in his free time, specifying that he looks for 'artists' among winegrowers.
Davide speaks with a charming Italian accent, but in perfect French with an infinite vocabulary to describe his passion for wine. For him the importance in a wine is acidity, "it is necessary that the wine is tight, otherwise it lacks a frame to hold in the mouth."
Sundays is usually when he has a little free time, he likes jogging and not to deny his Italian heritage, he loves his friends gathered around a large table to eat a good meal, open nice and large bottles, since the best capacity for Davide is the Magnum!