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Carley Jim - Chesterfield, UK
I became intrested in real ales around 4-5 years ago. I enjoy a good strong dark full bodied ale. I often visit the Batemans brewery in Wainfleet (lincs), where I am a member of the beer club. I also enjoy visiting my local pubs in Chesterfield. I also follow rugby union through Nottingham rufc, where my oldest son plays in their Academy. I've have been a Home-Help in Derbyshire for the past 5 years looking after people of various ages often taking them out on outings to the local countryside and several breweries in the area!! (01/05)
Chown, Chris - North Wales, UK - a.k.a. "Fawlty"
I am a chef and restaurateur (with rooms) in North Wales, at Plas Bodegroes in Pwllheli I was born in 1957, and am therefore expecting to share Mark Hawkins' 57 1st growths 50th party with minimal contribution for my own part. I am in the normally happy (and frequently horizontal) situation of having wine as an occupational hazard. I am proud of our winelist, which has won many awards including a GFG bottle symbol for 10 consecutive years. We have a particularly strong selection of halves (72 at the last count) which I believe to be useful for restaurant guests to experiment. I have learnt the little I know about wine through tasting samples for our list. I have done occasional tastings and have held wine and food evenings here. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to be offered a glass by a generous guest, the best of which remains Petrus 64. I also love Alsace, Provencale Rosé, Dujac's wines and old white Burgundy in general. And Guinness. Other hobbies include classical music, especially Mozart K466, SAAB cars, design, Welsh Rugby (I refuse to believe they can be beaten except by cheating, or maybe a better team), walking, photography, and fireworks, which I let off on any conceivable occasion. (06/00)
Clapperton, Neil - Angus, UK
A slow burn from the late 80's, starting with a love of sweet wines and the Rhone, now matured into a passion for the old world generally, especially France but also Italy, Austria and Germany. Still feel like a newbie and learning all the time. Amazingly just starting to discover Burgundy! And always amazed by the proliferation of wine areas and the huge range of grape varieties and styles on the planet (04/04)
Carlisle, - Tim Oxfordshire, UK
I'm 32 years old and currently work for a Christian charity, doing all sorts of administrative things, which sadly means that funds for buying wine are not exactly plentiful, however I manage, and it just means I need to be more canny when buying to look for value where value is. My great wine revelation came from an Uncle serving an '84 and and '88 Labagorce Zede at a lunch (where I was driving!) and seeing there was more to wine than I had thought - however I reckoned that price would be too much of an issue. 10 years later, I get married and honeymoon near Chateauneuf du Pape, and drink loads of Cote de Ventoux which is so much better than what I was drinking at home (Rosemount and Wolf Blass mainly!)and so much cheaper - my interest is again aroused! A £2.99 bottle of Montgras Merlot is also sadly to blame - up to this point it was either Australian or French and as I thought it (at the time) pretty good I decided to experiment with wines from all over the place. An Austrian Blaufrankisch another one that stands out. Slowly my tastes have refined, my favourite wines are those of Bordeaux - particularly right bank (in all honesty I've not drunk enough really decent left bank to know!) Rhone, and a new found love for the wines of St. Chinian from a recent holiday there. (10/06)
Carter, Damien - London, UK
I am 41 and although I am British by heritage (my father hails from Harrogate) I have lived here just over a year. I grew up in Toronto, Canada and had a five year diversion in New York City on my way to London. I am a former stockbroker, and now a full-time Dad. I can't remember a time that
I did not drink wine, although it has only truly become an obsession in the last few years. Part of the fun for me is researching great wines for good value, be they £5 or £50 a bottle. (05/07)
Clark, Cameron - Rotterdam, Holland
First got intested in wine in 1987, when I celebrated finishing University by buying a complete cook in the oven meal from Freezeway in Stirling, and splashing out on the latest vintage of Montana Sauvignon Blanc. Spent 20 minutes that evening with my nose stuck in the bottle, not believing that such smells were possible (didn't actually taste as great when I got round to drinking it). Collecting started with one of Food and Drinks tv wine tastings, and originaly it was wine boxes, followed soon by German wines - used to be able to get a lot of BA and TBA wines from the 76 and 83 vintages at reasonable prices then. Current favourite for collecting is Shiraz, mainly Australian but also Nothern Rhone. NAPA Cabernet is a new toy, and I'm thinking of moving into the New Wave Spanish wines. Drink wise its white all the way. Seems to be a lot more diverse styles and grapes (Viognier, Chasselas, Fendant, Gruner Vlentler, Canadian Ice wine, Hunter Valley Semillon, Mosel Reisling etc). Currently in the process of trying to find a house with a big cellar in order to hold my 400 bottle collection, and allow for considerable expansion. (05/00)
Cochard, Mark - Philadelphia, USA
I am a pre-construction and conceptual estimator for a Philadelphia construction firm. My interest in wine began in the early 80's after college. I had a copy of Alexis Lichine's Wines and Vineyards of France. I bought a bottle of wine for my brother while on holiday. It was a Puligny-Montrachet, just a village wine. When I got home I opened up the book to see what I had bought.The book explained what it was and immediately decided to open it and forget my brother. I have been hooked ever since. I enjoy most wines of the world. I do not like over the top wines in oak or in fruit components. I dislike the American Oak when not used judiciously. Pinot Noir is my favorite grape enjoying them from CA, NZ, OR and Burgundy and of course PA. Also love Loire whites and reds, Rieslings from Germany and Alsace along with Tuscany and Piedmont are also favorites. I have the Higher Certificate with Distinction From the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. I am a Certified Wine Educator From the Society of Wine Educators(US based). I received the Banfi Vintners Scholarship Award for 2000 From SWE in conjunction with passing the CWE exam. I plan to start the WSET Diploma in January. I have worked at Chaddsford Winery (35,000 cases annually) outside Philadelphia since 1992 part time on the weekend retail staff. I teach classes for the general public, the winery retail staff and sections of the Higher Certificate. I generally lurk but have posted before. I enjoy the UK perspective to balance the US one. (08/01)
Collins, Bryan - Glasgow, UK
Originally from London, I'm now based indefinitely in sunny Glasgow (surely the best food and wine city in the UK, especially if you factor value into the equation). My wine interests are pretty broad but my cellar is heaviest in red Bordeaux and Burgundy, northern and southern Rhones, 'classic' fortifieds (I've got a particular soft spot for all types of Madeira) and non-Muscat based stickies. Unlike many of other contributors to the Forum I am strictly amateur; for my day job I'm a consulting actuary. And yes, I've heard all the jokes. (08/00)
Cookie - Nottingham, UK
I am 58 years old. I love wines with individual personality and character. I am very keen on Cotes du Rhones. I'm more into reds than whites though I keep a fair collection of Chablis and interesting Southern France whites. I read the Advocate, Decanter, Wine and Wine Spectator. I have just discovered the Wine Pages and find it very interesting. Well done! I've got into a new habit of looking you up daily. (02/00)
Crabb, Thom - London, UK
A Philosophy graduate farmer's son, with an interest in everything but a talent for none, I decided to start a wine business. We deliver fine, rare and interesting wines and spirits across the UK. I don't make much money, but I don't need a cellar and I have lots of friends. My formal training is modest (I am doing the Diploma this year), but my passion for wine keeps me learning. (02/01)
Crann, Melvyn - Bradford, UK
I live in Bradford and work in Leeds. I've been actively interested in wine for about 18 years (i.e. reading, involved in tasting groups, courses, although I've got round to visiting producers only in the last few years). Alas, as with most subjects, I find that the more I study the fewer the certainties. (09/00)
Crossley, David - Brighton, UK
I'm a wine obsessive (but otherwise quite a nice bloke) who, rather too swiftly approaching 50, has been enjoying wine for about 25 years. It all started with a bottle of Cantemerle 1978, proceeds of a Grand
National sweepstake, a book by George Rainbird and a visit to Bordeaux/St. Emilion (where I met, by chance, Pascale Delbeck). Early highlights also came via the Rhone, especially Chave and Vernay, and
Meursault (the wine drunk in the place followed by a post-prandial walk up the slope has become a key comfort).
Trained as a barrister, I've mainly been a corporate type but, following a couple of years travelling circa 1990, I spent 2 years in the wine trade (which bagged me a WSET Diploma and were the best two working
years of my life). Had to earn a bit more when the kids came along so now work as a sort of academic lawyer (I help put together postgrad progs in EU, Competition and International Copyright Law).
My particular wine passions are Burgundy, Languedoc-Roussillon, Alsace and Italy. I have a weakness for seeking obscure wines (Entraygues, Irouleguy, Aosta, that sort of thing). I'm drinking fewer New
World wines these days and trying to drink better Champagne. Wine for me is the food and the place too - we visit wine country at some point on virtually every holiday. But for me, the best thing about wine is the
pleasure in sharing it. (05/07)
Cullen, Enda - Armagh, Northern Ireland
My first experience of wine was as an altar boy, I believe it was Sanatogen. During a school holiday I worked in Birmingham and bought a half bottle of Mundys (South African?). It took me two months of furtive drinking to finish it! I spent seven years in California and often took visiting friends to the Wine Country for wine tasting followed by Budweiser. As you can see a fairly unsophisticated introduction to wine. Approximately 10 years ago I was introduced to Wolf Blass Yellow Label and my taste buds took off. I now enjoy the safer New World reds and have a 1997 bottle of Armagh, to be opened this Xmas. I collect wines without any real knowledge and have Marquis D'Alesme-Beker 1995, Batailley 1995, Haut-Bages Liberal 1994, D'Issan 1985 and a few others in my utility room. The best or most significant wine I have every enjoyed was Muga Prada Enea Grand Reserva Rioja 1989. I welcome suggestions/recommendations from anyone, as I’m a complete philistine. When I retire from teaching I would love to import wines. (11/02)
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Davies, Mike - Surrey, UK
I am 41, work in the IT industry, am married with two small children (another due in October!) and have been serious about wine since about 1990. The cellar in our house (well Victorian Coalhole would probably be a more accurate description!) has around 4-500 bottles of Bordeaux, Champagne, other French regions, plus some US, Chile and OZ.... but OK, its mostly Bordeaux!! We have a small holiday cottage in the Dordogne about 40 minutes drive from Saint Emilion, from where we are "researching" the outlying wine areas of Saint Emilion + Satellites, Bergerac and once that new A89 motorway to Bordeaux is finished, the Medoc will be within about an hour. I am also the webmaster for WhatWhereWine.com. (06/00)
Davidsen, Leif - Southampton, UK
While I remember drinking wine from an early age with meals, it would be predominantly French, as thats what was available to drink then, sometimes being replaced with my father's home-made blakberry or gooseberry wine. In the early 90s I first branched out and started to learn about other wines, mainly Australian. My first experience was of a 'Vanishing Point' chardonnay from Oddbins, and then I was hooked. Spent 5 years doing regular wine tastings to acquire a palate. Now have a range of mostly new world wines for aging, drinking and enjoying. Favourites would be Shiraz, Zinfandel, and good pinot. I try to host regular themed wine-tasting parties. I know I have a long way to go in honing my palate, and I should get back in the habit of taking notes. But for now wine is to be enjoyed. (04/05)
Dee, Chris - Warrington, UK
An early developer - I started tasting wine as a 14 year old after buying Michael Broadbent's Pocket Guide to Wine Tasting in one of my sadder adolescent moments (as a life long York City FC supporter I needed all the entertainment and alcohol I could get - even at that age!). I was then lucky enough to find a local wine merchant's daughter as a girlfriend! I bored her to tears by reciting the 1855 classification of Bordeaux! This was the start to a career in the wine trade that includes a stint at Addison Vintners (now Handford Wines) in London, A chain in Leeds of my own called Vin ExtraOrdinaire and finally the Wine Buyer at Booths Supermarkets. I am now the Marketing & IT Director of Booths and miss my daily tastings and getting to take the decent samples home for tea! I've had a lifelong fondness for the wines from Languedoc - in particular Pic St-Loup. I adore obscure Italian varietals such as Ruche and wines from the South, especially Salento. Priorato in Spain sends me to heaven and back. I tolerate the new world but only just. When your hobby becomes your career it can sometimes destroy the passion and enthusiasm you start off with. Certainly there have been times when I wish I would not slurp when at the dinner table but I think wine is just one of those things that its impossible to remove the enjoyment from. (02/00)
Dellar, Paul - Colchester, UK
Developed from having a passing interest in wine to becoming a more serious collector/taster/drinker about 5 or 6 years ago. Since then have built up a collection of around 700 wines - a lot of red burgundy and bordeaux - but also Riesling (from just about anywhere), Chablis, Rhone and a spattering of Aus, SA, NZ (mainly Pinot in the latter's case) and other stuff. A lot of this is holed up at home along with my long- suffering wife ("it smells of grapes and alcohol") and 2 children. I am currently studying for my WSET Diploma in my spare time! (02/05)
Devlin, David - Aberdeen, UK
I am a 36 year old white collar worker in the oil industry. My interest in wine exceeds my knowledge at present, but I have a small circle of wine loving friends and slowly but surely I am gaining an education. Tom's Wine Pages is a constant source of inspiration and even at "wine of the week" level I'm amazed at just how much there is to learn about wine in terms of style and quality. Like many others on the forum I'm sure, I am now spending far more on wine than I would ever have dreamed possible a few years ago! Favourites: Australia, Bordeaux, Alsace and a weakness for good fizz. (02/00)
domenico, mariano - Italy
I am part of a 6 people company, that owns an italian wine and food on-line shop (www.gastarea.com). The focus of our store is on Piedmont wines: barolo, barbaresco, of cours but also all the other of the richest wine region in italy (some tuscan man may not subscribe this statement) :-) (03/03)
Douglas, Karen - Epsom, UK
I am a 42 year old lecturer, married with two children of 18 and 10. I teach wine courses, WSET Certificate and Higher and Catering and Hospitality Courses with responsibility for the Colleges training restaurant. I am also a trained Chef with a specialism in patisserie. I am qualified to Diploma level for which I gained Honours and the Alsace Scholarship. I hope to start my MW in January having taken a year out of study to improve my French, but realise I have not talent for languages. My favourite wine regions are Spain, Southern Rhone, my all time great wine was a Ridge Zinfandel from late 80's of which I found a case in the College cellars which had been delivered by mistake for some Zin Blush, It showed me the true potential of Zinfandel to age. I am football mad, and follow two teams, West Bromwich Albion my home team and Manchester United for the GLORY and knowing I can see them most weeks on the box. (06/00)
Dowling, Paul, Ireland but live in North Hampshire
My name is Paul and I live in Hampshire. I first got into wine when I worked in the catering trade many years ago but am glad to be out of it. I enjoy mainly red wines from Bordeaux, Rhone, Australia and anywhere else which makes wine in fact. As I am new to the Vinxchange I would like to meet/exchange/share wine experiences with any other members who live in the North Hampshire/Hampshire area. Like many of you I tend to buy more wine then I can drink. (03/07).
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Edwardes, Warren - London, UK
I set up Wine for Spice to provide a range of naturally semi-sparkling wines to accompany curries and spicy food. After all, if you don't drink warm flat beer with your curry, why drink warm flat wine with it? For me other than good quality, cool and sparkling be it beer, water or wine, are my requirements of a drink to go with a curry or spicy food - and no oak or tannin. see wineforspice.com. My first taste of wine was a 10 year old altar boy at a Catholic Boarding School in Rajasthan, India in 1963 taking a sneaky swig when Father Bonaventure wasn't looking. memories came flooding back when I first tasted Vin Santo and Vin Doux Naturel decades later. I am a banking innovation consultant and former investment banker developing my taste for wine as a city dealer and as a corporate treasurer and have often been part of winning teams in wine tasting competitions. What was missing for me was a good selection of wines specifically created, and not just marketed, to be drunk with curries and spicy food. Many of the wines that are marketed as "curry wines" seemed to me as without any real character to them and merely bland and inoffensive "wine lake" surplus produce. (05/04)
Egge, Jan-Tore - Norway
I'm another thirty-something. Originally from Oslo, I now live in the cosy little town of Lillehammer, site of the 1994 Olympics, as its inhabitants are keen to point out. For a living, I sit at home and translate computer programs and manuals, EU directives and books (including a couple of wine books). My interest in wine began when I entered university in the mid-80s and read in the papers that 1982 was a terrific vintage in Bordeaux. I figured that if people could bother to write books about wine, it couldn't all be as bad as the stuff I tasted in my school years. So I started buying petits châteaux in half bottles which I drunk -- too young -- with my Saturday pork chops. I believe I've progressed a little bit since then. One of the benefits of having a paid job is that you can afford to buy slightly better wines than most students can. (My most lasting wine impression from a year in England doing an MA degree is drinking Lambrusco mixed with all kinds of nasty stuff in an initiation rite for a student society.) Anyway, things started to take off in the mid-90s, when I joined wine clubs and started going to organized tastings and reading wine magazines regularly. And one of the greatest pleasures these days is visits by wine producers. For instance, Gunter Künstler is coming to Oslo next week. Still, Oslo is 180 km away, which means there is quite a bit of travelling involved. I am a member of four wine clubs (including chairman of one and secretary of another), and all their tastings are in the Oslo area. I also like to visit wine-producing areas, but they're at least a couple of days' drive from here, so we don't do it as often as we'd like to. In fact, we haven't been to France since 2000, when our then 1 1/2-year old son got to see a few cellars in Burgundy and Alsace. Favourite wines? I'm afraid I'm turning more and more into an Old World OSCB, particularly since I haven't been outside Europe for a few years. France, France, France, Italy and Germany... (09/02)
Engelman, Kevin - USA
Aside from one year in the Piemonte as a teenager, I've spent my entire life in Cambridge (the one on the left side of the drink). I've been in the trade as a buyer since I was twenty years-old -- some twenty years ago. My personal oenological passions are Piemontese and Tuscan, which pretty well applies to my feeling about food as well. (03/00)
Eriksson, Joakim - Lund, Sweden
23 years of age. Beginning to build up my own cellar focusing on french quality wines. Like to travel to the wine districts (only been to Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux so far). I`m studying at the moment (law-school) and due to lack of income (well, not totally, but a very small) can`t buy as much wine as I would like. (02/01)
Evans, Steve - London, UK
I started getting into wine in the early '80s, when I realised it was pretty much the perfect hobby. It had all the best qualities of, say, stamp collecting (no, really!): obscure examples to track down, lots of insider knowledge to acquire, and new examples continuously being produced. Plus it was a lot more social, not nearly so anorak-y, it tasted nice, and (this was the clincher) I got to get drunk doing it. :-) Sadly, I no longer have a twenty-year-old's liver, and getting drunk is now something to avoid rather than a primary goal in life. I'm still hooked on wine though, especially now I'm more interested in good food. At twenty, food was just the fuel required to go parties, get drunk, and pursue women (almost always unsuccessfully, for some reason). Besides, my cooking was *horrible*. I'll drink just about anything, but my current faves are Riesling (surely the world's most under-appreciated grape variety), Pinot Noir (the world's most disappointing grape variety, but magical when you find a good one), and lesser-known reds from places that haven't succumbed to the tide of by-the-numbers Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz. (01/00)
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Fairclough, Rupert - Milton Keynes, UK
Started working for Oddbins at the tender age of 19 in the pre-Seagram days of the early '80's - drank a huge amount of wine and fell in love with all of it. Current passions are good Madiran and good Bergerac but I'm always partial to a decent German, old sweet Loire, right bank clarets, good Chablis, fresh young rose, most things from Margaret River and properly made Zinfandels. Then there's Austria - try some if you haven't, they're so good. Best ever wine: 1928 Marc Bredif Vouvray drunk 'sur place'. Biggest ever disappointment: 1970 Latour which just didn't taste of much. Happy drinking to you all. (04/04)
Farnham, Arthur - Cleveland, UK
Arrived in Britain in December from South Africa. With a keen interest in wine I have brought wine from two producers in South Africa. The aim is to distribute these wines throughout the UK. I am amazed at the absence of good quality South African wines available here. Maybe in my own way I can change this. Looking forward to the wine discussions on this board. (03/01)
Farris, Stephen - Canada
Though I have British connections - I passed my first year of life in Edinburgh and later three happy years at Cambridge - I am thoroughly Canadian. That is an advantage for ice hockey players but not, perhaps, for wine drinkers. I have always enjoyed wine but the interest escalated in the early 90's when I began visiting wineries in the Niagara region south of Toronto. Then an unwary relative gave me Oz Clarke's The Essential Wine Book and, well, I'm now probably as addicted to learning about wine as to drinking it. My finances dictate that I chiefly drink wines from lesser known regions or less fashionable producers. Whether from choice or pecuniary necessity, I enjoy finding more obscure wines and learning about their origins. At the least encouragement and sometimes with none whatsoever, I whip out an atlas and insist on showing guests or longsuffering family where the wine of the day comes from. I do, nevertheless, have a few more classic bottles stuffed away in the cellar and, if pressed, I must admit my preferences lie with them. In the end I fear I am nothing more than the contemporary version of a middle class Victorian, bushy whiskers, ample waistcoat and all, calling for my hock or claret. (12/00)
Fawthrop, Duncan - Nottingham, UK
I'm a 40-year-old accountant whose interest in wine has mushroomed since, 18 months ago, buying a house with a good, spacious cellar. I immediately put lots of racking in, and have spent a while experimenting with different styles of wine. I'm now firmly hooked on old world reds, and reckon on about 60% of the rack being French, 15% each for Italian and Spanish wines, with bits and bobs of Portuguese, Greek and new world. I'm also a big fan of Belgian beer (Poperinge Hommelbier, La Moneuse and Westvleteren are faves), so I don't find it hard to justify my fairly frequent trips across the channel to stock up. I have a very understanding (resigned?) partner, and 2 kids who would call me much ruder names if they didn't enjoy their weekend breaks so much. (03/01)
Featherstone, Adam - London, UK
I am mid-30's and love food and wine. As my career developed my drinking expanded from real ale's into wine. The tipping point was visiting the Cape at the end of the millenium...who could fail to fall in love with wine in that setting, with that food and gorgeous outdoor weather. Now I drink
most wines with particular favourites being France, Port, SA, NZ, stickies. I am currently trying to pursuade my other half that I need to build a cellar for my 2 year old...you never know it might work :) (06/06)
Febles, Pedro - Florida, USA
I began my wine appreciation from my living in Madrid, Spain for 2 years in 1970-72. While there, I was able to travel to the regions of Valdespena, Ribera del Duero and of course, Rioja. The world have not known these wines yet, but I am happy to say I was there first. Later, I moved to Florida, USA and eventually back to Europe where I met and married a French girl from Seine et Marne (77) near the Champagne region. In my many trips to France thereafter I have visited all the great wine regions of France from 1990 on; while continuing to visit my old Spanish bodegas. I do not considered myself a wine collector even though I have a small collection. Mainly I love to drink them. Of course my main areas are France and Spain in that order but I have tasted wines from Italy, California and Washington, Chile, Argentina and Australia. Thank you Tom, for the opportunity to converse with other wine lovers of planet Earth. (07/00)
Fincham, Daron - Telford, UK
I'm 40 next birthday, originally from Cambridge. I only became seriously interested in wine in 1995, being properly introduced by my best man Tim, an Australian enthusiast. Hence my 'cellar' (literally under the stairs: 240 bottles at an average price of £10 in the range £4 - £34) comprises 25% Shiraz. However a dear friend, Nick, revealed to me "the glory that is claret" and so a further quarter of my stock is Bordeaux. Nick also ignited my passion for Chateau Musar which accounts for 1 bottle in every 10 that I squirrel away. With tastes like these I inevitably fell in love with the Rhône, again 10% of my hoard. The remaining 30% is 'miscellaneous', from pinot noir to Port. I find Barolo and Burgundy (both of which I love) the most difficult to achieve an acceptable quality to price ratio. Shiraz lovers usually love red Rioja and I'm no exception - it's the vanilla. I'm a summer Loire red drinker, but rate the sweet white Coteaux du Layon more highly. California is a black box - I haven't a clue, nor the wallet! I have become a great fan of Chilean cabernet sauvignon, Argentinian malbec and South African 'Bordeaux blends'. As to whites - my favourite is Riesling from Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. I love Tokay-pinot gris and the mighty gewurztraminer from Alsace and 'New World' sauvignons, but chardonnay is love/hate with me. I'm not a great fan of fizz, unless its sparkling shiraz! I simply crave botrytis wines from any grape variety. I have a strange fascination with Romanian pinot noir (It's the volatile acidity thing: farmyardy smells wrapped up in a silk purse made from a pigs ear.) Which brings me to the annual pig roast and wine tasting at Chateau Fincham: www.wlv.ac.uk. (01/00)
Finn, Peter J - Puisserguier, France
I am 48 from Belfast originally but settled here in the best wine growing area of France and probably the best growing are in the Languedoc, noted for their very fine reds and rosés. I have several hectares which I manage for the COOP of Puisserguier and over the years had spent some time trying to promote wine from this area. My attempts to push wine from here to Ireland and England has now borne fruit over the last 15 years and those who were in the vanguard many long years ago are now common on the shelves of your supermarkets. I have noted a complacency in the products from the individual growers: that their products are and will remain standard. I run wine tastings and have offered many visitors a taste of the very fine delights that exist in the wines and the vins doux naturels of this area which are becoming very very fashionable. I have launched several projects of this nature in Wine and Decanter and feel that despite my involvement I have a solid approach to the wines from here and France particularly. I am interested in growing grapes and wine without recourse to some of the more favoured pesticides and herbicides which are sufficient to make mad cow disease look gentle in comparision. I am more interested of late in the sociological aspects of wine and its culture - notably in the shaping of our current religions. The "false friend" as wine is often portrayed does have a part to play in social interaction and the solidarity of those who have cirumvented the snobbery has a real foundation. (03/00)
Flavin, Shay - Connecticut, USA (Originally London)
I'm 46 married with two sons. Have had an interest in wine since being the delivery boy for a chain of wine merchants as a teenager and I still have not lost that early-developed love for the wines of Germany. Current loves are anything from the Rhone, California Pinot's and having just returned from two weeks in Northern Italy, Barolo, Barbera's, Barbaresco's, Valpolicella's and Amarones (not to neglect those lovely Muscat d'Asti's). (09/00)
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Garrett, Ian - Bradford, UK
Currently the co-ordinator of Bieres Sans Frontieres, the International bar at GBBF, a position I have held for 4 years. During this time I have been able to expand the range of beers available and introduce many new beers to the British public. I have organised many tutored tastings at GBBF, featuring Michael Jackson, Tim Webb, Fred Eckhardt, Lorezo d'Above and others. I assisted in research and provided advice for the DK book 'Drinks' by Vincent Gasnier. (06/06)
Gibson, Jonny - Sussex, UK
I got the wine bug whilst working in the marketing dept at IDV (now Diageo) looking after Smirnoff and Croft Port in the late 80s. They put you through the trade exams and I kept going until a passed my WSET Diploma. I ran a design agency in the 90s with loads of well known drinks brands as clients before deciding I'd had enough of big business and trains and it was time to move out of London and head for the country. I'd always loved tracking down new wines on my travels abroad for friends and family, and set up Wine Discoveries in 2003 on the back of their positive feedback. The spare room and barn has turned into a warehouse with a dedicated team and rave reviews in the wine press for our 'great wines from small producers'. Life's too short for boring wines. Look out Jonny Boden - here we come! www.winediscoveries.co.uk. (10/06)
Goldberg, Simon - The Wirral, UK
I was born in Westminster in 1955, and moved to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1961, and South Africa in 1967. I discovered wine at university in Johannesburg in about 1975 and have been an enthusiastic taster ever since. I returned to England in 1998 and am living in Lincolnshire, where I am a Lecturer in Computing at Boston College. Over the past 30 years I have been a member of a multitude of wine clubs and societies, and have done courses through the Cape Wine Academy and the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET). I'm afraid I am not as active in wine tasting circles as I used to be. I think this is a result of having finally moved into a career that I enjoy (teaching), as well as living in such a remote location that I can hardly ever get to wine tastings. But my passion for wine remains undiminished, and I am a notorious wine tourist. I have visited wineries in England, Champagne, Chablis, the northern Rhone, Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, the Finger Lakes, Michigan, Oregon, California, as well as most South African wine regions. I enjoy wine of just about every type and price range. My favourites are probably claret, dessert wines, and full bodied red wines with exotic flavours such as Zinfandel and Pinotage. I also love discovering unusual wines. (05/00)
Goode, Jamie - London, UK
I'm a thirty-something wine writer from Twickenham, West London. As well as publishing a successful consumer wine website, 
