David Baverstock grew up in South Australia, but emigrated to Portugal for love and wine. He started out in the Douro Valley, before moving to the more southerly Alentejo, where he now works for the Winestone Group. Our insightful chat covered his time in Beaujolais with Marcel Lapierre, Portugal’s 250 indigenous grape varieties, how the country’s …

Martín Kaiser excels as both a viticulturist and a winemaker. Born and brought up in Mendoza, where he still works and lives, he has transformed the reds and whites of Doña Paula since he arrived in 2006, taking them back to their roots. Our fascinating chat covered everything from vegetarianism to climbing mountains, calcium carbonate to the joys …

Queena Wong got interested in wine when she moved from Australia to London to work in finance in her mid-twenties. A passionate collector, she also has a well-honed talent for connecting people, acting as a Fairy Wine Godmother. Through her company Curious Vines, she has campaigned for greater diversity, inclusion and equality within the wine indus…

Giorgi Dakisivhili is one of Georgia’s most accomplished winemakers, a man who’s equally comfortable employing historic and modern techniques. One of a family of oenologists, he studied in the Ukraine and California before returning to his native Kakheti region, where he set up Dakishvili Family Vineyards. Our wide-ranging conversation covered ever…

Pieter Walser is one of the wine industry’s great mavericks. Surfer, artist and creator, he’s the man behind some of the Cape’s most distinctive labels, famous for brands such as Family Murder, Little William and Moment of Silence. I caught up with him from his home near the ocean to chat about surfing, epilepsy, old vines, white gloves, adventurou…

Author of Inside Bordeaux, Jane Anson started out as a journalist in Hong Kong but fell in love with wine on a trip to South Africa. She moved to France full time in 2003 and has since become one of the world’s most admired and influential wine critics. Our in-depth chat covered everything from tasting technique to wine websites, the future of En P…

David Way specialises in the wines of Piemonte, although he writes about the whole world for his day job at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. A theologian and historian by training, he brings academic rigour to the study of this fascinating and still comparatively little-known corner of north-west Italy. Our fascinating chat covered soils, climate…

Debra Meiburg grew up in California, but moved to Hong Kong to work as an accountant in 1988. She quickly discovered that wine, not spreadsheets, was her real passion in life and switched careers. Writer, taster, educator, consultant and TV performer, she’s one of Asia’s most talented and engaging communicators. Playfully disruptive, as someone onc…

Vicente Cebrián was born in Madrid, but says his blood is almost all Galician. Put in charge of two family bodegas – Pazo de Barrantes in Rías Baixas and Marqués de Murrieta – in 1996, at the age of just twenty-six – he’s even surpassed the legacy of his larger than life father. Our revealing chat covered his aristocratic titles, Atletico Madrid, A…

Brought up in a trilingual household in New York, Nicole Rolet worked in banking and international relations before she set up Chêne Bleu in the southern Rhône Valley with her husband, Xavier. Our wide-ranging chat covered everything from lay lines to the pursuit of legacy, Grenache’s underdog status to the future of fine wine. Listen to Nicole tel…

Born in Dundee, close to what the calls “the Côte d’Or of raspberries”, Norrel Robertson got interested in wine through a part-time job at Oddbins. After passing the Master of Wine and studying viticulture and oenology in New Zealand, he visited Calatayud in Aragón in 2003 and has never left. A self-confessed Garnacha nut, the Escocés Volante, or F…

After stints working at Sainsbury’s and in a Guildford nightclub, Daniel Lambert set up his own wine business in 1992 and has turned it into an award-winning success story, specialising in French wines. I caught up with him from his new home in Montpellier to discuss his outspoken criticism of the UK’s proposed new alcohol duty scheme, the role tha…

Anne Kriebehl MW arrived in London to study English literature at university with two suitcases and a rucksack. After publishing her first piece about the 50th anniversary of the end of rationing in the Financial Times, she slowly moved into wine writing and has never looked back. Hers is an inspiring tale of perseverance and talent, leading to the…

Giuseppe Vaira is a second generation winemaker who thought of becoming a doctor but chose to join the business created by his pioneering father Aldo instead. Our fascinating chat covered what he calls the "tiramisu" of Barolo's soils, the best way to handle Nebbiolo in the vineyard and winery, his love of "ugly duckling" grapes like Dolcetto and w…

Auctioneer, author and film producer, Andrew Caillard MW has just published The Australian Ark, his magisterial, three-volume history of Australian Wine. I caught up with him from Adelaide to talk about the peaks and troughs of the last 236 years, the iconic bottles that make up his Canon of Australian wine, old vines, the individuals who have had …

Born and brought up in New York, where she made wine with her father in the basement of their house as a kid, Natalie Oliveros had a very successful career in the Adult Entertainment Industry as Savanna Samson before buying a majority stake in La Fiorita in Brunello di Montalcino in 2014. Our fascinating chat covered society’s attitude to sex, her …

Jancis Robinson is the world’s leading wine writer, acknowledged as such by consumers, the wine industry and her peers. She has a weekly column in the Financial Times, her own website, jancisrobinson.com, and has authored a series of landmark books about her chosen subject. I caught up with her from her home in London to talk about food, tasting, w…

The Prüms are one of the oldest wine families in Germany’s picturesque Middle Mosel region. The family business, J.J. Prüm, is now run by Katharina Prüm, who is as charming and amusing as she is intelligent. Listen to us chat about tradition, Fortnum & Mason and Oklahoma, the differences between the estate’s two great vineyards, Wehlener Sonnenuhr …

Part of an extensive, wine-focused family known in Bordeaux as “les Lurtons du vin”, François Lurton runs a successful global business that has estates in southern France, Spain, Chile and Argentina, places where he finds it “easier to breathe”. Our fascinating chat covered everything from cherry trees to different Malbec clones, flying winemaking …

Born into a famous winemaking family in Tuscany, Piero Incisa della Rocchetta had a brief spell as a banker in Geneva, before he dedicated himself to his first love, Pinot Noir. At Bodega Chacra in Patagonia, he’s made some of the finest examples of the variety in South America, as well as a pair of brilliant Chardonnays with the Burgundian guru Je…

Poet, novelist, academic and tenth generation winery owner, Piero Mastroberardino is a modern-day Renaissance man. Passionate about the wines of his native Campania, he’s a fascinating source of information about the best local varieties, the terroir of one of the coolest grape growing regions in Italy, the ancient vineyards of Pompeii and the lega…

Tony Laithwaite fell in love with wine in the Côtes de Castillon, where he’d gone to work as a holiday intern before university. Spotting a gap in the market, he founded a company called Bordeaux Direct, which has gone on to become one of the most successful mail order businesses in the world. Our intriguing chat covered his love of the under-dog, …

The locals laughed when Dominik Huber made his first wines at Terroir al Límit in Priorat, but he’s proved them all wrong. Born in Germany, it was his dream to live close to the Mediterranean and he’s done it, producing some of Spain’s finest reds. I caught up with him on a welcome day of rain in Catalunya to talk about Garnacha and Cariñena, slate…

Sara Danese is a financial consultant and investment analysis, who uses her experience and expertise to write about the fine wine world in her spare time. Her newsletter, In The Mood for Wine, is a brilliant overview of the sector. Our fascinating chat covered Bordeaux En Primeur, the extravagant, unregulated claims made by some wine investment pla…

Robert Joseph was one of the key figures in what he likes to call the “summer of love” for wine in the late 1980s, setting up Wine Magazine and the International Wine Challenge. He now divides his time between writing, consultancy and making his own wines in the Languedoc and Georgia. Our amusing and insightful chat covered everything from influenc…

Niki Segnit is an expert on flavour, having written two best-selling books about the subject. I caught up with her before she jumped on a plane to Andalusia to talk about her eureka moment tasting a bottle of claret from Waitrose, unexpectedly delicious food pairings, Mike Leigh and liver in lager, how we inspire kids to eat better, her mistrust of…

When Anthony Hamilton Russell gave up a job as a management consultant to return to the family wine farm in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, his London salary was more than the turnover of the business his pioneering father Tim had established in 1981. Our fascinating chat about the last 40 years of South Africa’s leading cool climate region covered ever…

A passionate Andalusian and Professor of Law at Granada University, Jesús Barquín is also one of the key figures in the modern Sherry revolution. Equipo Navazos, the company he co-founded with his friend the winemaker Eduardo Ojeda, has pioneered single cask as well as unfortified wines from the region. Our fascinating chat covered the nomenclature…

Adrian Bridge had two careers – in the military and banking – before he joined the wine business in 1994. Now CEO of the Fladgate Partnership, he’s one of the most articulate, dynamic and articulate people in the Port trade. Our fascinating chat covered climate change, the importance of good spirit for fortification, his love of mountaineering and …

Author of Vineyards, Rocks & Soils, Professor Alex Maltman is an acknowledged expert on wine geology. I caught up with him from his home in Aberystwyth to talk about his life’s work. Our in-depth chat covered earthquakes, Welsh Seyval Blanc, different types of rocks, his definition of the French word terroir, the unseen factors that affect vinous a…

Brian Moore, known as pit bull during his time playing rugby for England and the British and Irish Lions, was always a sportsman with a hinterland. Our fascinating chat covers his other careers as a solicitor, wine columnist, TV commentator, manicurist and now trainee psychotherapist, as well as plenty of other things besides, including food, polit…

Fernando Maíllo works in fine pata negra ham as well as wine – lucky man – and has been one of the key figures behind the emergence of the Sierra de Salamanca region in Castilla y León. Listen to us chat about the unique qualities of Rufete, both red and white, how he rescued 131 abandoned vineyards, his love of kite surfing and red Burgundy and hi…

After a 30 year career in banking, Grant Ashton turned his passion for wine into a business, setting up the wine-focused members’ club, 67 Pall Mall, in London. He’s now CEO of a chain of three sites that’s set to expand to six or more over the next few years. Our fascinating chat covered his musical family, how he finds and trains sommeliers, the …

Sean Willard engineers menus and wine lists for a living. It’s a fascinating job that involves economics, science, art, psychology – and plenty of number crunching. Our enjoyable chat covered everything from font sizes to daily specials, how the pandemic changed the on-trade for ever, techniques for steering customers away from default choices, the…

Alessio Planeta is the seventeenth generation of his family to make wine in Sicily. As you’d expect, he’s a man with a passionate interest in the history of the Mediterranean’s largest island. Listen to us talk about Sicily’s different sub-regions, the remarkable quality of its best indigenous grapes, its twenty different civilisations, Lord Horati…

Pascal Chatonnet has not one, but two wine-related PhDs. After a 17-year stint as an academic at Bordeaux University, he switched careers to become a consultant and take over the running of his family’s Right Bank estates. Our fascinating chat covered his views on Brettanomyces, cork taint, ripeness and picking dates, his favourite grape varieties …

Hendrik Thoma trained as a chef, but fell in love with wine when he was working at a restaurant in the Napa Valley. It was a decision which led to a very successful career as one of the world’s top sommeliers. Now a journalist, wine importer and videoblogger, he’s a fascinating interviewee. Our chat covered great wine lists, pumpernickel, the craft…

Ginny Poval had a successful career as an insurance industry executive before she bought a flower farm called Protea Heights in South Africa that changed her life. Now the owner of a five-hectare vineyard and an award-winning wine brand called Botanica, she’s done things the hard way. Listen to us chat about kite surfing, old-vine Chenin Blanc, veg…

A chance meeting with the great Steven Spurrier in Paris convinced Rosamund Barton that she wanted to work in wine. After spells as a buyer and a newspaper columnist in South Africa, she decided that PR was her future. And what a success she’s made of it, working alongside Rupert Ponsonby at R&R Teamwork. Our fascinating chat covered everything fro…

Larry Cherubino can’t seem to stop winning awards at the moment. He’s flying all over the world to collect them, so I was lucky to track him down for an in-depth conversation in Perth. Our fascinating chat covered his upbringing on a dairy farm, his Italian roots, an overview of Western Australia’s main wine regions, his fascination with clones, hi…

Interviewing Christoph Hammel is a lot of fun. Sometimes described as a cellar cabaret artist, he brings a theatrical flourish to everything he does. Our fascinating chat covered the climate and soil types of his native Pfalz, his long term relationship with South Africa, his love of Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, his plans to revive the fortunes of…

Essi Avellan is a journalist and Master of Wine who probably knows more about sparkling wines than anyone else on the planet. I caught up with her from her base in Helsinki to talk about single vineyard Champagnes, autolysis, cork age, tasting bubbles, the best fizz regions outside France, her preference for fresher over oxidative styles, the impac…

Originally trained as an engineer, Greg Lambrecht is an innovator, inventor and entrepreneur who works in the medical as well as wine sectors. Listen to us chat about needles, noble gases, super glue, karmic debt, how he came up with the idea for the Coravin wine preservation system, the dos and don’ts of using one, his love of running and how at l…

Yves Cuilleron took over his family’s estate in Condrieu and Saint Joseph in his early twenties. In the space in of just three decades, has turned it into one of the France’s star names. Our fascinating conversation covered his love of Viognier, the difference between the two banks of the Rhône river, clones of Syrah, including Serine, his Californ…

Since he arrived in the country in 1991, Philip Cox has transformed the image of Romanian wine. Having first tried his hand at selling beer, he bought a run-down winery and 600 hectares of vineyards and hasn’t looked back. Today, his company – Cramele Recas – sells more than 30 million litres, using international as well as local grapes. He’s an ou…

Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Estates has been described as the most significant woman in the world of wine. Originally a Supreme Court lawyer, she switched her attention full-time to the wine business in 2011, when her husband, Jess Jackson, passed away. Our fascinating discussion covered land prices, climate change, horse breeding, what she ter…

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, László Mészáros took an Interrail holiday around western Europe and fell in love with wine. After further studies in France, he returned to the Tokaj region in his native Hungary in 1995 and has been at Disznókö ever since. Our chat covered the fascinating history of this famous area, as well as its soil types, gr…

Bruwer Raats decided on a policy of “excellence through specialisation” when he set up his own project, Raats Family Wines, in 2000, focusing on what were two unfashionable grapes at the time: Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Our discussion covers the unique, granite-based terroir of the Polkadraai Hills, what he learnt from long lunches in Tuscany…

One dubbed "Miss Oblivious" because of her single-minded focus, Zelma Long has had a remarkable 50-year career as a winemaker on three continents. Our chat covered her early years as a dietician, the pioneering work that she did alongside the legendary Robert Mondavi in the 1970s, her successful decision to invest in South Africa with her husband v…

Natalie Christensen of Yealands originally wanted to compose film scores or be a music therapist, but after what she calls a “quarter life crisis” in HR, she got a harvest job in a winery and it changed her life. Listen to us chat about her time in Galicia making Albariño, her love of Sauvignon Blanc, the lay of the land in Marlborough, the appeal …