Céline Lim

HEC provided me with a high-quality environment to learn more about wine from various perspectives. 

One of my great passions before joining HEC was learning about wine; as luck would have it, HEC allowed me to continue developing that knowledge in truly exceptional ways. On my first month on campus, I joined HEC Grand Cru, a selective wine club offering students the chance to participate in tastings with some of the exclusive and sought-after winemakers in the world. The HEC Paris brand meant that some of these winemakers, who would normally be selective about sharing their precious reserves of wine, were, as a matter of fact, thrilled at the chance to open their cellar stocks to HEC students! We welcomed such names as Dom Pérignon, Château Haut-Brion, Château Cheval Blanc, and many more.

However, my wine experience truly culminated in my final year, when I learned about Cuvée Privée, a rapidly scaling Station F-based start-up that had been founded by three young HEC graduates and launched the concept of adopting one’s own vines from high-quality winemakers curated by a Michelin-star-affiliated sommelier. I was fascinated by the concept and its potential – and on a whim, I contacted the founders to see how I could get involved. With the enthusiasm that seems innate to HEC alumni, the founders invited me to join on a flexible internship basis. It was an amazing moment where I became able to apply everything that I had learned from the HEC Grand Cru and Club Vin experiences in service to a mission that I was excited to be a part of. As Cuvée Privée’s objective at the time was expanding in the UK, I helped connect them with the London-based HEC wine club community, as well as alumni who were currently working directly at the wine domains in various functions. It was at these moments that I saw how wide-reaching the HEC network is and how proactive the community remains at promoting these links.