The Mission
To inspire and guide wine enthusiasts in their journey to enjoy quality wines that represent great value.
Read moreMy Journey in Wine
As with all journeys you need a reason to travel, a starting point, a destination, and a map.
My particular reason was inspired by what I can only describe as a transformative experience. My “aha” moment, as they say in the wine industry, was when I first tasted a wonderful, white Burgundy called Puligny Montrachet.
At the time I really didn’t think very much about wine, knew even less about it and was happy enough drinking those popular sweetish, German Liebfraumilch wines on special occasions! You can only imagine how that sophisticated, complex and mysterious white Chardonnay ignited a curiosity in wine that remains to this day.
Read moreThe destination was to be as knowledgeable and experienced as the sommelier who recommended, described, and served this wine. So impressed was I by the knowledge, composure and enthusiasm of the sommelier I decided that my destination was to be able to confidently order wine in a top end restaurant and not be intimidated by the sommelier!
Not realising what a huge task lay ahead to achieve this seemingly reasonable ambition I embarked on my journey by buying every wine book I could find and drinking more wine than my doctor was comfortable with. But this only got me so far. While I certainly learned a great deal and enjoyed a wider range of wines and experiences than most people, I still lacked the structure to take me to my destination and measure my progress. When time allowed I therefore enrolled with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).
Over the years of study and exams they guided me on how to taste properly, how to really understand the process of winemaking and to appreciate the signature characteristics of each of the grapes and regions from which the wine was made. Critically, it made the wine come to life as I learned about how the winemakers themselves managed all these complex and variable elements to produce the wonderful, complex wine in the glass in front of me.
What I didn’t realise was that there actually is no end to this journey. The wine landscape has expanded hugely from my personal starting point. A recent survey estimates that there were 5,147 brands listed for sale in the UK in 2019 whereas back in the 1980’s supermarkets were only beginning to have shelves stocked with wines from every region of the world, and the internet didn’t exist. Liebfraumilch Little Rhine Bear cost just 83p a bottle and a popular Le Piat de Beaujolais – £1.10.
To my frustration, I only studied for a professional certification much later in life. This really consolidated what I knew through experience and gave me structure and techniques to fine tune the hugely rewarding journey of tasting and learning to appreciate the ever expanding world of quality wines.
A journey I strongly encourage you to take too.