Tell us about the moment you first became interested in wine
It was when I was at catering school 30 years ago, to become a chef and realised that I liked cooking but didn’t necessarily want to cook all day every day.
Describe your wine list at Dynamic Vines wine bar and shop
Our focus Is a seasonal selection of wines from independent winemakers who offer a true reflection of their terroir. All the wines are sourced from minimal intervention, sustainable vineyards. For us, the list is all about opening the right wines at the right time of the year.
Over the course of your career, have you had any wine-related disasters?
I was running the wine programme for Marco Pierre White, at the time Marco had several restaurants in central London. Sometimes the same wines were listed across all of his restaurants but only kept at one location, Quo Vadis. On a very rainy Saturday night, I was running a case of six magnums of 1981 Chateau Cos D’Estournel, Bordeaux from Soho to Piccadilly Circus with very slippery service shoes on. I slipped and fell in the rain and 4 of the 6 magnums smashed, covering me in wine. It was about 11pm on a very busy night in Soho and I delivered the remaining two magnums drenched in red wine.
Who do you most respect in the wine world?
Nicolas Joly (of Clos de la Coulee de Serrant in the Loire). Not because he’s one of our producers but because of his work fighting for biodynamic farming to become the norm. He was the first biodynamic producer in the 80s and he’s been writing lots of discourse and giving courses to farmers and professionals which have been instrumental in putting biodynamic wines on the map. Not necessarily commercially, but on the production side of things.
What’s the most interesting wine you’ve come across recently?
It’s a white wine from the Roussillon: 2022 IGP Côtes Catalanes La Truffière, Danjou Banessy. It’s a wine made in the French part of Catalunya and 2022 was a year with hardly any rainfall in the region. This has been the case for a few years in that area and it’s becoming increasingly challenging to produce any wine there. But this vineyard did it in a year when there was hardly any water and yet produced a wine with such freshness. It feels a lot more northern in terms of climate.
What are the three most overused tasting notes?
One thing I don’t like is when flavours are named in tasting notes, for example strawberries, peaches. This tends to eradicate what someone is individually sensing. If you’re given these words, you’re not experiencing and understanding it for yourself. We all have very subjective tastes and different understandings when it comes to flavours.
What’s the best value wine on your list at the moment?
It would probably be our 2011 Cru Blanc Sparkling, Sicus from Catalunya. We have it in the wine bar for £10 a glass when the bottle is £54. It was harvested in 2011 and disgorged in 2022 with 11 years of ageing in the cellar before it got to us in 2023. It’s got incredible complexity, and a 14 year old wine for £10 a glass is incredibly good value. It’s been on the list since opening but won’t stay on for long as it’s quite limited supply, they only make 4000 bottles a year.
What is your ultimate food and drink match?
Vin Jaune from Domaine de la Tournelle and comté cheese. That’s what I live by.
Old World or New World?
Old World biodynamic wines.
Who is your favourite producer right now? (and why?)
Alessandra Divella (a sparkling wine producer in Italy’s Franciacorta wine region). I’m obsessed with her wines. It’s a very tiny project and they produce a very small quantity of these incredible wines.
As a wine bar owner, what question do you most get asked by customers?
People tend to ask if they can buy bottles to take home. Of course, we’re a wine shop as well as a wine bar so we definitely encourage people to pick up a bottle on their way home or come and choose a selection if they’re having friends over.
Which wine producing region or country is underrated at the moment?
Catalunya, both the French and Spanish side. It’s an area where you see incredible wines that are very diverse with great value.
It’s your last meal and you can have a bottle of any wine in the world. What is it and why?
I would close the circle with a bottle from 1976, my birth year. It would be a 1976 VDF Emilien, Le Puy, Bordeaux because - almost 50 years on - it’s absolutely incredible.
