Unfiltered: Sonal Clare
“Stagnation is anathema” for the samosa loving, colour blind head sommelier at Birmingham’s disruptive 18 seat restaurant, The Wilderness.
Unfiltered: Daniel Stojcic
Located in a former drovers’ inn, Raby Hunt is the first restaurant which the ambitious oenophile has worked at as head sommelier.
Unfiltered: Chanel Owen
The Essex born, rugby playing head sommelier of Pied à Terre, Fitzrovia, a restaurant which has triumphed over fire, financial crises and the pandemic, maintaining a Michelin star since 1993, talks to Douglas Blyde.
Unfiltered: Chef, Jordan Bailey and Sommelier, Scott White
Jordan Bailey, the head chef and co-founder Aimsir restaurant, and restaurant manager and sommelier, Scott White take turns telling Douglas Blyde about pairing heritage apple ice wine, a fanaticism for Formula 1 and a visit to the ungrafted vineyard beside Champagne Bollinger.
Unfiltered: Lukas Hyner
The Czech-born food and beverage manager of Raymond Blanc OBE’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons talks to Douglas Blyde about a standout saignée from England, his chef-patron’s love for the Jura, and a desire for immortality…
Unfiltered: Jonathan Alphandery
Described as “a wine drinkers’ clubhouse”, Planque, located in railway arches in happening Haggerston, is a wine bar, restaurant and members’ club.
Unfiltered: Shiva Gautam
Montys of Kathmandu, Temple Bar became Dublin’s first Nepalese restaurant on opening nearly 25 years ago and today boasts a frankly extraordinarily depthful, often modestly-priced wine selection ranging from accessible to covetable.
Unfiltered: Stefan Kobald
Stefan Kobald started as a sommelier at Pollen Street Social in 2014, being promoted to head sommelier at Social Wine and Tapas just six months later and more recently, The Biltmore. Returned to Pollen Street as Head Sommelier, he speaks to Douglas Blyde about his love for aged Austrian wines, cravings for Krug and fanaticism for film.
Unfiltered: Katrina Smith
Douglas Blyde speaks to the mind behind the English focused drinks list at Oxeye, the new restaurant and gallery brought to you by debut restaurateur, Sven Hanson Britt in Nine Elms.
WLC visits: Charles Heidsieck wine room at Michelin-starred ‘Number One’ restaurant
Douglas Blyde headed north of the border this week in the company of Willem Pinçon, Senior Brand Manager for Liberty Wines. The tour took in a new, subtly-branded, Charles Heidsieck wine room at the Michelin-starred ‘Number One’ restaurant at the base of the five-star Balmoral hotel.
Unfiltered: Nobuko Okamura
Over glasses of Kannan Winery Riesling from Ningxia, deeply hued, biodynamic Moon Apogé Tavel Rosé and Franco-Moroccan collaboration, Tandem Syrah, Douglas Blyde hears the story of Nobuko Okamura, the Dublin-raised, Japanese head sommelier of Singaporean restaurant, Straits Kitchen at Europe’s inaugural Pan Pacific hotel.