Tell us about the moment you first became interested in wine
My dad has always been interested in wine, particularly classic Bordeaux, so growing up there was always nice wine in the house. We used to have steak on Friday evenings after school, and he’d always open a good bottle of Bordeaux and let me have a taste. I think that’s where my initial appreciation of wine came from.
Describe your wine lists at Goodbye Horses, The Dreamery and Stable Wines
There’s definitely crossover between our lists at Goodbye Horses and Stable Wines, whereas the list at The Dreamery isn’t as extensive because we’re choosing wines to pair with ice cream. Across Goodbye Horses and Stable Wines, the idea is to explore winemakers in depth and make their body of work the focal point, rather than just concentrating on a particular region or style, in order to give them the attention and credit they deserve. Rather than cherry-picking individual bottles because we already have two Loire Chenin Blancs on the list, for example, we’re much more interested in showcasing the breadth of a producer’s work. We work with at least 15 different importers, many of whom we’ve built long-standing relationships with, and we’re constantly keeping up with the new producers they’re bringing in.
Over the course of your career, have you had any wine-related disasters?
When I was working at P. Franco, now 107, I had a slow-motion disaster involving bottles toppling out of an ice bucket. It’s an amazing bar, but a very tight space, shaped around one central table. The bottles knocked over a red we were serving by the glass, which hit the bar and splattered right across a customer’s lovely cream jacket.
Name your top three restaurant wine lists
These are unsurprisingly all going to cross-reference with the people I respect most in the wine world! 107, Ducksoup and Timberyard. I’ve always had a soft spot for 107, formerly P. Franco, having worked there myself. Even since reopening, the approach hasn’t changed all that much. The wine selection is incredible, and what runs through all three places is really fair pricing.
Who do you most respect in the wine world?
Beyond the winemakers themselves and the amazing importers we work with, there are so many people I’ve learnt from over the years, particularly those working in similar roles to mine, who have been mentors. Nathalie Nelles, my predecessor at Goodbye Horses, has one of the most impressive combinations of palate and ability to talk about wine that I’ve ever come across. You can have an incredible palate but still struggle to communicate what you’re tasting to a colleague or guest. I’ve never met anyone who can talk about wine in quite the way she does.
What’s the most interesting wine you’ve come across recently?
We’ve recently got the 2022 Tu-Tu from Cantina Giardino back in, which I’m really excited about. They produce an amazing number of cuvées each year, but Tu-Tu has always been one of my favourites, so I was really pleased that Tutto has imported the new vintage. It’s an orange wine made from Fiano, aged in cherrywood casks, which gives it this lovely smoky, earthy character alongside all that southern Italian fruit and tannin.
What are the most overused tasting notes?
There’s too much focus on natural wines being ‘funky’ or ‘farmy’. These wines are the most natural expression of the grapes being grown, and I dislike people using these terms negatively to downgrade the hard work of a winemaker who is doing something extremely difficult with a living, diverse product. In most cases, the person disrespecting their work doesn’t know how to make wine themselves.
What’s the best value wine on your list at the moment?
The Cabernet Francs from Claire and Florent Bejon are consistently impressive and offer really good value. They’re from the Loire, a region where the white wines tend to get far more attention than the reds, both in terms of production and reputation. Their wines are rich, complex and herbaceous, and at around £60–£70 on our list, I think they easily stand up to bottles at the £100 mark.
What is your ultimate food and drink match?
I’m such a sucker for a big, rich, opulent Chardonnay. I love cooking skate wing. It’s a relatively inexpensive but really flavourful fish, and its texture means it carries sauces incredibly well. You can go down the classic French route with lots of butter, or something more fragrant and herbaceous, like a Sardinian salmoriglio with chilli and capers. That, with a big glass of Chardonnay and a side of chips. I absolutely love chips.
Old World or New World?
Old World – there’s just so much more history and expertise in the Old World, and proximity plays a part too from a sustainability perspective. We like to avoid shipping wines from all the way across the world. I’d say 99% of the wines on our lists come from France, Spain and Italy.
What is your pet hate when it comes to wine service in other restaurants?
When the bottle isn’t left on the table, especially a red. It happens at quite uptight, fancy restaurants. I can understand it from a table-space perspective, but generally I try to avoid these sorts of restaurants…
Who is your favourite producer right now?
Samuel Boulay in the Ardèche. He’s such a thoughtful, philosophical winemaker, with absolutely no ego, and incredibly generous with his time. I was in the area on holiday last year and asked if I could pop by to pick up a few bottles to tide us over for the week. It happened to be harvest, but he still insisted we stay for lunch – we ended up staying for four hours. There’s talk that he might be winding things down, so I’m making the most of his wines while I still can.
As head of wine, what question do you get asked most by customers?
I’m currently recovering from a pretty big leg injury, but when I’m on the floor during service, one thing that comes up all the time is people assuming that being a sommelier means you’ve done the Master Sommelier exam. They’ll say, ‘Oh, so you did that really hard test where you have to blind taste all those wines?’ I think a lot of people have seen the documentary Somm and assume that’s what every sommelier has to go through. You end up spending quite a lot of time explaining that it’s not actually the case. It feels like quite an Americanised perception of the profession, and it’s not a qualification I particularly see myself pursuing.
Which wine-producing region or country is underrated at the moment?
The Ardèche, in the south-east of France. There’s so much variety in the wines thanks to the different soil types, altitudes and climates. You get everything from fresh, fun, juicy reds to much more structured and powerful wines. Land is also relatively affordable compared with other grape-growing parts of France, and the soils offer a good balance of fertility without encouraging so much growth that you lose concentration in the grapes. It means you can find some really incredible value.
It’s your last meal and you can have a bottle of any wine in the world. What is it and why?
Patrick Bouju’s La Bohème 2018. It’s a Pinot Noir made from vines that are around 100 years old, and a really special wine. He no longer makes it, which is part of the appeal. There’s something about knowing you can’t get hold of it anymore that makes the opportunity to drink it again feel even more special. If it were my last bottle, that would be the one.