Simon is Laura's long-suffering partner in both life and Wine School! Having honed his wine knowledge through 10 years with Majestic Wines he took redundancy in 2016 and embarked on a year off, helping YWS co-ordinate some of the best wines available locally with their ever-expanding tasting programme. After a year or so in the role of Wine Manager at Friends of Ham, he decided to set up his own wine shop and bar, Once Upon A Vine, in Horsforth. From here, he is in a prime position to snaffle some fabulous wines for our best Wine School courses...
Want to know what a wine shop owner likes to drink? Read on...
What's your favourite midweek wine? "For me, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is Tuesday night perfection! I want something I can pair equally well with dinner or just slobbing in front of the TV: NZSB delivers the best of both."
Most memorable wine-drinking moment? "I've been lucky enough to travel round 3 continents drinking wine, but the first time I sat in the old town square in Colmar (Alsace) and ate tartiflette whilst greedily drinking Pinot Gris, that was wine and food perfection!"
What's your favourite 'non-wine' drink? "If it's cold outside I love a proper boozy hot chocolate- it needs to be great chocolate and something gorgeous like 15yo Spanish Brandy- but that's my idea of heaven!"
If you were a grape variety what would you be? "Probably Chardonnay... people have strong opinions about me, but I am surprisingly laid back and versatile!"
What's your favourite course to source wines for at YWS? "Normally I would say Christmas Fine Wine... we absolutely push the boat out for that, and Laura lets the purse strings loose! But the Wine Scholar Guild has encouraged us to dig even deeper and uncover some regional gems, it's always exciting to source and taste these wines"
