VINCENT CHAPERON SPENT his childhood dreaming of the sea. The grandson of French marines on both sides of his family, he grew up near the ocean and loved sailing—which is perhaps why he figured his stint at Moët & Chandon, in landlocked Champagne, would be a short one a role he assumed in 2019 after a 13-year apprenticeship under his predecessor, Richard Geoffroy. Despite the lack of open water, Chaperon has sunk his roots here—“progressively,” he notes, which is how, he says, “humans fall in love with someone or something.” For him, it goes without saying, “that’s wine.”
