Wine Talks British Business

Annabelle Bond OBE on Wine Talks British Business

Annabelle Bond, OBE, earned the title "fastest woman climber in the world" in 2005 after scaling the highest peaks on the seven continents in just 360 days. At the end of 2003, she began intensive training with a Chilean team 6 months prior to going to Everest. She reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 15th 2004, the fourth British woman to stand on top of the world. After climbing Mount Everest, Annabelle went on to climb the other six mountains that comprise the Seven Summits, making her the only woman in the world to have achieved that extraordinary physical and logistical feat in less than a year. Her record stood for eight years before being broken. In April 2006, Annabelle joined SAS Prince Albert II of Monaco on an expedition to the North Pole. Using teams of dogs, the seven-person expedition reached the North Pole on April 16th. The expedition was conducted in conjunction with a project for the World Wildlife Fund that sought to highlight awareness of global warming. In August 2007, with the birth of her daughter Isabella, Annabelle became a single mother. She has since devoted her time and energy to being the best mum she can be, whilst still staying fit and engaged in endurance events and various business and philanthropic activities. In May 2009, Annabelle ran a 250-kilometer self-supported endurance race across the desert of Namibia as part of the Racing the Planet Series of Races. In October 2009, Annabelle ran the same distance across the Sahara Desert to raise funds and to highlight awareness for the Eve Appeal, which focuses on the prevention of Ovarian Cancer. In 2016 Annabelle raced in her first triathlon in Phuket, Thailand, winning her age group - the triathlon is just short of a half Iron Man, but the humidity, heat, and hills make it one of the toughest triathlons on the globe. Annabelle speaks regularly to corporations, schools, and charity groups on the importance of Setting and Achieving Goals. She works as well as an Advisor to Arbor Ventures, an all-woman venture capital fund. She remains passionate about health and nutrition. Annabelle has been awarded the position of honorary Colonel of the Chilean Army, and she was made a member of the Royal Council of Ingxotha by his Majesty King Zwelithini Goodwill KaBhekuzulu of KwaZulu. In addition, Annabelle has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen of England for her services to Mountaineering and Charity. For more on Annabelle visit her website : www.annabellebond.com

2/2 Steven Spurrier on Wine Talks British Business

Part 2 of the interview with Steven Spurrier.

1/2 Steven Spurrier on Wine Talks British Business

Steven Spurrier born 5th October 1941, was educated at Rugby School and the London School of Economics. In 1964 he joined the wine trade as a trainee with Christopher and Co (established 1665). In 1970 he moved to Paris and purchased Les Caves de la Madeleine, a small shop in the centre of the city, and in 1973 opened L'Academie du Vin, the first independent wine school in France. As a partner, he became involved in divers ventures allied to wine: Le Bistrot a Vin, a winebar/restaurant in the business quarter of La Defense; Le Chemin des Vignes, a warehouse and bottling plant on the outskirts of Paris; Le Moulin du Village and Le Blue Fox, a restaurant and winebar near the Caves de la Madeleine. Spurrier is perhaps best known for having created the tasting between top Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California and France in May 1976, subsequently referred to as The Judgement of Paris. A recreation of this event was held 30 years to the day on May 24th 2006, simultaneously in London and Napa In 1988, he sold his wine business interests in Paris and returned to the UK to become an independent wine consultant. His clients have included Harrods in London and Hediard in Paris, Singapore Airlines and Christie's for whom he created the Christie's Wine Course in 1982. He is also Consultant Editor for Decanter Magazine and Chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards, now the world's biggest wine competition, since its inception in 2004 and Chairman of Decanter Asia Wine Awards, Asia's largest wine competition, since 2012. He is the author of eight books on wine of which two: L’Academie du Vin Wine Course and L'Academie du Vin Guide to French Wines have been translated into several languages. Some of the prizes and awards that Steven Spurrier has won include "The Bunch Award" for articles in Decanter in 1996, "Le Prix de Champagne Lanson” in 1997, "Ritz Carlton Millienia Lifetime Achievement Award" in 1999 and "Le Prix Louis Marinier” for writing on Bordeaux in 2000. In 2001 he was awarded "Le Grand Prix de l'Academie Internationale du Vin" (only the third time this award has been given since 1982) and also "The Andre Tchelistcheff Maestro Award” from California. He is married, with two grown-up children, and lives, when not travelling, in London and Dorset. After much reflection and research, he decided with his wife Bella to plant a vineyard on their farm in south Dorset. There are now 25 acres planted to 55% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier to make English Sparkling Wine under the name Bride Valley Vineyards, the first vintage being harvested in October 2011, the month of his 70th birthday. In 2017 he was made Decanter Man of the Year and also Honorary President of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. In 2018 his memoirs were published under the title “Wine a Way of Life.” In 2019 he created with partners the Academie du Vin Library, which will publish new books and re-publish old classics for world wide distribution.

Simon Berry from Berry Brothers and Rudd on Wine Talks British Business

Image of Simon taken in the Directors’ Dining Room at St James’s Street. Image Credit Jamie Coreth (the artist) Simon Berry joined Berry Bros. & Rudd - representing the seventh generation of his family to do so - in 1977. He became Marketing Director in 1987, was elected to the Board in 1994, and was appointed Chairman in January 2005. He retired on his 60th Birthday in November 2017. He spent two years working in France for various wine producers before joining the company, including Moët & Chandon in Champagne, M. Chapoutier in the Rhone, Ch. Mouton-Rothschild in Bordeaux, and Prosper Maufoux in Burgundy. Simon was awarded the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Diploma in 1979 and the Diploma of the British Institute of Marketing in 1983, and in 2003 graduated from the Owner President Management Executive Education program of Harvard Business School. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, a member of the Académie du Champagne, and a Chevalier du Tastevin in Burgundy. He served on the Executive of the Wine & Spirits Trade Benevolent Society, and was Chairman of the Benevolent in 2008. He was a Council Member of RADA, on the Board of RADA in Business, and Chairman of the RADA Development Board. He was appointed Clerk of the Royal Cellars in 2008, and was the holder of the Royal Warrant of Appointment as wine merchant to HRH the Prince of Wales and HM the Queen. For many years he was a regular feature on the Decanter Power List – the fifty most influential people in the wine world. Simon’s main area of responsibility at Berry Bros. & Rudd was marketing, and the development of new projects for the Wine Division. Examples include the establishment of the company’s Duty Free wine shops at Heathrow’s Terminals Three and Four – the first instances of a specialist wine merchant operating such outlets in the world. These shops won the coveted Duty Free Specialist Liquor Retailer of the Year in 1996, and Wine Magazine’s award for Retail Creativity in 2004. He was also instrumental in setting up Berrys’ Internet site (which won Wine Magazine’s Website of the Year eight of the nine years the award was made), and initiating BB&R Press, the company’s publishing arm. In 1999 he spent 6 months in Hong Kong, establishing the company’s first wine subsidiary in Asia, the Berry Bros. & Rudd Fine Wine Club. Simon has lectured on wine on many occasions, and to many institutions throughout the world, including Oxford and Exeter Universities, Stowe, Woldingham, Wycombe Abbey School and Eton College, the British Embassy in Tokyo, the Chalke Valley History Festival and Harvard Business School. His articles have been published in several magazines, notably Vogue, Debrett’s International Collector, The Economist Review of the Year, The Financial Times and regularly in The Spectator. He has also contributed to many television and radio programmes, most recently How Britain was Built and Wine: the Firm.

Hugh Johnson OBE on Wine Talks British Business

Hugh Johnson OBE is the world’s most pre-eminent and prolific writer on wine. Starting out more than fifty years ago as a wine correspondent on Vogue magazine he has progressed through the world of wine, writing, editing and broadcasting giving us some of the most influential information around, including The Story of Wine to his Pocket Wine Book now in its 37th edition. Hugh has also won almost every wine book award in existence. Along the way he has received numerous medals and awards, been the Director of a French Champagne house and helped to save wine production in Hungary, all the while combining this with a second career as a gardening expert and writer. With his engaging style and vast knowledge Hugh brings us a fund of stories about his lifetime in wine in this rewarding, inspiring and indepth interview.