Asma Khan, the first British chef to appear in the popular Netflix series Chef’s Table, has admitted that working in the restaurant industry “can be quite isolating”.

This year’s Taittinger Sommelier of the Year explains what being a sommelier means to him, shares the mortifying moment he spilt a glass of red wine over a bride, and why Manzanilla with a plate of anchovies is heaven on earth.

Michel Roux Jr has named 29-year-old Gaetano Farucci as the head chef of the two-Michelin-starred Le Gavroche in Mayfair, following the departure of former head chef Diego Ferrari.

Melanie Brown, wine buyer for New Zealand restaurant The Providores and the founder of independent retailer The NZ Cellar, on learning to use a corkscrew, dreams of Anthony Bourdain, and how a bottle of Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay cemented her love of wine.

Sommelier at London hotspot Nuala explains how a sick sommelier helped get her start in wine, why Trousseau is her marmite grape, and how the earth stopped turning upon tasting a certain Champagne while backpacking in New Zealand.  

A staunch advocate of natural wine, Isabelle Legeron founded RAW Wine in 2012, which has grown to become the world’s largest community of low-intervention organic, biodynamic and natural wine producers. Here, she shares her unconventional path in wine, and details of her her new venture, the London-based wine bar Neptune.

Dinner’s director of wine tells WLC about getting tongue tied when serving Angelina Jolie, spilling fish sauce on one of his diner’s heads, and an unforgettable dinner in Cadiz involving lashings of Krug.

Dinner’s head sommelier tells WLC about getting tongue tied when serving Angelina Jolie, spilling fish sauce on one of his diner’s heads, and an unforgettable dinner in Cadiz involving lashings of Krug.

Italian-born Nicola Perrone, head sommelier at French neighbourhood restaurant Orrery in Marylebone, explains how his wine list is “his baby” and reveals that the one wine he can’t get along with hails from his motherland.

Neleen Strauss, the formidable owner of South African city spot High Timber, speaks to WLC on serving Oprah Winfrey, the joy of a plate of anchovies with a glass of Albarino, and an altercation with a Texan who had a knack for opening a bottle of wine with a handgun.

Katie Exton began her career in wine with English producer Breaky Bottom, and went on to become head sommelier at Chez Bruce and The River Café, before opening her own restaurant, Lorne, in 2017.

Ruben Desport, head sommelier at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, shares his early experiences of life as a Belgian-born sommelier in London, and which bottle set him on his path to wine.