France Vs. California: Wine industry: preparing the future

Pauline Lhote, Director of winemaking at Chandon USA

Pauline Lhote is a French female winemaker based in Napa, California, known for sparkling wine. She is the current lead sparkling winemaker at Domaine Chandon.
Lhote grew up on a farm in Champagne and earned a degree at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne in Reims.

Upon graduation, Lhote worked at Moët & Chandon and Nicolas Feuillate in France. In those roles, she performed maturity controls, winemaking trials and cellar work. While at Moët & Chandon, she spent time creating red wines used in producing rosé sparkling wines, including Dom Perignon Rosé. Lhote came to the United States for a three-month internship at Chandon in Napa, California and stayed on as a permanent employee. Lhote now leads the team that creates Chandon's sparkling wines.

Julie Cavil, Cellar Master - House of Krug 

Julie Cavil is the Cellar Master at the House of Krug in Reims, France. She was born in the Centre region of France in 1974. The daughter of a doctor, Julie was raised in an area devoid of viticulture, where a winemaking profession was but a distant possibility. She embarked upon a career in communication after five years at one of the country’s top business schools. For six years, she was an Account Director for an established advertising agency in Paris, where she also met her husband.

Both enthusiastic wine lovers, this passion eventually drove them to leave their comfortable positions in the capitol to pursue a dream. They came to Champagne in 2002. It was at that point Julie decided to complement her marketing and communication skills with technical knowledge of wine. She undertook another three years of studies to become an oenologist, graduating with a national oenology diploma from the University of Reims, Champagne-Ardenne. During and after her wine education, Julie Cavil worked on the vinification of four harvests for Moët & Chandon, after which she joined the House of Krug in 2006 as a winemaker and member of the Tasting Committee. In 2017, she became Winemaking Director, working with a talented team in charge of winemaking, projects development and sustainability. In 2020, after 13 harvests at Krug, Julie Cavil was named Cellar Master of the House. Julie Cavil is married and has two children. She loves sharing moments with friends, travelling and making new discoveries.