People Archives | The Buyer

By Richard Siddle on August 21, 2017

Gerard Basset on 10 years of TerraVina and what adventures lie ahead

The wine industry is well blessed with leading, influential personalities from all parts of the trade, but few, if any, are as respected, admired or as decorated at Gerard Basset. Apologies Gerard for not following your name with the usual list of qualifications, but they need a drum roll all of their own, for Basset is unique in being able to have MW, MS, MBA and even an OBE after his name. As he celebrates, literally today, 10 years since he has his wife, Nina, opened Hotel TerraVina, Richard Siddle sits down with him to talk everything from St Etienne FC, Sven Goran Eriksson, to mentoring the next generation of world leading sommeliers.

Posted In: hotel terravina, hotels, master sommelier, restaurants, slider, sommelier, wine

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on August 17, 2017

The Buyer Summer Q&A with the wine broadcaster Joe Wadsack

Armed with arguably one of the best wine palates in the UK wine trade, and certainly the most capable and skilled individual in talking about wine to the masses, Joe Wadsack, now the regular wine expert on ITV’s This Morning, shares his year so far, what he has been up to during the summer – and his rather surprising love for Miley Cyrus….

Posted In: ITV This Morning, Joe Wadsack, wine, wine broadcaster, wine communications, wine tasting

People: Producer

By Peter Dean on August 15, 2017

The Buyer Year One: our winemaker pictures of the year

The Buyer was one year old in May and now, while we’re on holiday, it is time to reflect on what an awesome first year it was. We tasted many thousands of wines and met many talented, generous and frankly delightful winemakers. So if you are by the pool or wish you were, settle back and look at this pictorial trip down memory lane as we bring you our favourite winemaker pictures of the year.

Posted In: Peter Dean, photos, the buyer, winemaker, winemakers

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on August 14, 2017

The Buyer Summer Q&A with Giles Cooke MW of Alliance Wine

Most UK wine suppliers and distributors spend the majority of their time based in Britain from where they can co-ordinate shipping wine from all over the world. But for Giles Cooke MW things are a bit different as he spends a fair bit of it overseas actually helping to make the wine that Alliance Wine then ships and sells here. Here’s how his year has been so far…

Posted In: Alliance wine, on-trade, wine, wine distributor, wine importer, wine supplier, winemaking

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on August 10, 2017

Hennings Wine is seeing huge demand for rosé in both its independent wine shops and on-trade wholesale business

Matthew Hennings: how rosé continues to rise and surprise

We continue our summer-long look at the opportunities for developing rosé sales, in partnership with Castel Frères, by talking to individual merchants and on-trade distributors about what trends they are seeing within the rosé category and what restaurants are looking for. First up is Matthew Hennings, managing director, of the family wholesale business, Hennings Wine Merchants.

Posted In: castel freres, on-trade, rose wine, wine, wine merchants

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on August 9, 2017

Enolytic’s Cathy Huyghe: why wine buyers need Big Data

Any journalist worth their salt needs to be highly inquisitive, and good at reading between the lines to see the truth. US wine writer and commentator, Cathy Huyghe, has taken that to the ultimate level by setting up her own wine data analytics business, Enolytics, that hopes to help companies use, visualise and act on the Big Data they have in their business to make better decisions about the kinds of wines their customers and consumers are buying and want to buy.

Posted In: data analysis, data mining, Enolytics, on-trade, restaurants, vivino, wine, wine data, wine sales

People: Producer

By Peter Dean on August 9, 2017

Domaine Francois Raveneau – all a question of attitude

The wines of Domaine Francois Raveneau continue to be some of the most sought-after and highly prized in the world. The Buyer was granted a rare audience with Isabelle Raveneau last November at the Chablis domaine, a visit that money simply can’t buy. Today just as in the 1940s, when the domaine was established, the humble vision remains the same – work hard in the vineyard and everything else slots into place.

Posted In: chablis, Francois Raveneau, Isabelle Raveneau, Kermit Lynch, Peter Dean, Raveneau

People People: On-Trade

By Richard Siddle on August 8, 2017

The Buyer summer Q&A with ITV Wine Show’s Joe Fattorini

Has there been more globetrotting member of the wine trade than Joe Fattorini in the last 12 months? As one of the presenters of ITV’s The Wine Show, which he has just finished filming a second series of, Fattorini has been here, there and everywhere quipping lines to camera. So what does he get up to when he’s back home and planning a summer holiday?

Posted In: itv, joe fattorini, spirits, The wine show, wine, wine consultant

People: Producer

By Justin Keay on August 8, 2017

How Alpha Box & Dice has a wine for the whole alphabet

Alpha Box & Dice is a winery in South Australia that specialises in producing unique wines from alternative varietals – mainly Mediterranean grapes. Justin Keay was so blown away by them at the recent Boutinot tasting that he was intrigued to find out more – especially why they want to make 26 different wines – one for each letter of the alphabet.

Posted In: Alpha Box & Dice, Alternative Varieties, Justin Keay, Lachlan Aird, McLaren Vale, South Australia

People People: On-Trade

By Richard Siddle on August 7, 2017

Martin Williams takes M Bar & Grill to London’s commuter belt

Whichever way the residents of Twickenham voted in the EU referendum they have got Brexit to thank for the imminent arrival of M Restaurants new M Bar & Grill concept. For it was only on the back of the Brexit vote that founder Martin Williams abandoned plans to open a third large venue in central London in favour of starting a new grill concept that could take premium dining to key London commuter towns. Richard Siddle joins Williams on a site visit of his new exciting venture a stone throw’s from the home of English rugby.

Posted In: fine dining, gastro pub, M Bar & Grill, m restaurants, restuarants, wine

Browsing Category

Gerard Basset on 10 years of TerraVina and what adventures lie ahead

The Buyer Summer Q&A with the wine broadcaster Joe Wadsack

The Buyer Year One: our winemaker pictures of the year

The Buyer Summer Q&A with Giles Cooke MW of Alliance Wine

Matthew Hennings: how rosé continues to rise and surprise

Enolytic’s Cathy Huyghe: why wine buyers need Big Data

Domaine Francois Raveneau – all a question of attitude

The Buyer summer Q&A with ITV Wine Show’s Joe Fattorini

How Alpha Box & Dice has a wine for the whole alphabet

Martin Williams takes M Bar & Grill to London’s commuter belt

You Might Also Like

Bath’s Abbey Hotel becomes a destination for fine food and wine

Shaking the status quo: Red Squirrel’s New Frontiers tasting

Nederburg Wines hits gold by sponsoring African cycling team

Larry Cherubino: “Creating good value wine costs a lot of money!”