Profiles
Unfiltered: Isabelle Legeron MW
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.
Unfiltered: Stefan Neumann MS
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.
Unfiltered: Stefan Neumann MS, Dinner by Heston
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.
Unfiltered: Nicola Perrone, Orrery
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.
Unfiltered: Neleen Strauss, High Timber
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.
Unfiltered: Katie Exton, Lorne
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.
Unfiltered: Ruben Desport, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
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.
Unfiltered: James Lloyd, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
The head sommelier of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay looks back on his career that has seen him sample a Lafite from 1894 and bring down a chandelier with the pop of a cork.
Unfiltered: Christine Parkinson, head of wine at Hakkasan
Christine Parkinson, once described as “one of the most creative buyers in the UK” by Jancis Robinson, recalls an encounter with Elvis Costello, a run in with a meat cleaver-wielding head waiter and how she could have ended up an astrophysicist.
Unfiltered: Michael Sager
Michael Sager, the director of his eponymous Sager + Wilde wine bars, takes a breath to detail his many projects, which include an art gallery, the launch of his own mezcal and wine brand, and why London is the single most exciting wine market right now.