Raspipav Montréal 2026

The biography of Champlain Charest written by Robert Bernier

Radiologist, entrepreneur, great wine enthusiast, restaurateur, and art collector, Dr. Champlain Charest has just celebrated his 95th birthday. This biography traces the exceptional journey of a man who has lived for nearly a century with uncommon curiosity, energy, and zest for life.

An essential figure in Quebec's wine and restaurant world, Champlain Charest has always cultivated his passions to the fullest. His journey took him from medicine to entrepreneurship, from grand bottles to fine dining, and into the art world, where he distinguished himself as a collector and generous donor.

The book also delves into his intense friendship with Jean Paul Riopelle, a meeting between two complete, excessive, and profoundly free personalities. A friendship marked by complicity and ups and downs, but whose bonds never truly broke.

Beyond wine, art, and professional achievements, this biography mainly reveals the man behind the persona: his enthusiasms, his contradictions, his excesses, and the intimate drive so well summarized by the title: The fear of missing out... The need to be loved.

A fascinating life story, at the crossroads of Quebec history, wine, gastronomy, and art.