Contributors

The contributors to this blog are BB&R’s highly knowledgeable and respected staff…

Adam Bilbey
Direct Sales Manager, Hong Kong

Adam commenced his Berrys’ career in 2001, working at our Heathrow Airport Shop, before progressing to the London Shop. In search of the sun, Adam moved to Australia working for Yarra Yering Vineyards. In this time he gained experience in all aspects of winemaking and vineyard management, mastering the art of hand pruning and crashing tractors! Adam enjoys wines from all around the world, preferring wines that express their origin and have a sense of place.

Posts by Adam Bilbey

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Anne McHale
Berrys’ Wine School

Anne has worked in the wine trade since 2003. Her passion for wine began during her studies at Cambridge University where she was a member of the Wine Society. Upon graduating with a degree in French, she made the most of her language skills by working with London-based French wine agency Mistral Wines.

She joined BBR in 2006 and is now studying for the Master of Wine qualification while working alongside Rebecca Lamont in the Wine Education Department. She co-ordinates the ticketed events in the Berrys’ Cellars: tastings, dinners, food & wine matching events, luncheons and of course wine school. Wine education is one of her great passions, as she believes that everyone should have the opportunity to discover more about the infinitely fascinating and rewarding world of wine.

Anne is also a winner of the prize of Young Wine Writer of the Year 2010, awarded annually by the Circle of Wine Writers.

Posts by Anne McHale

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Ben Upjohn
Fine Wine Advisor

Ben started working for Berrys’ at the age of 15, in the cellars of No.3, during his Christmas Holidays. After leaving school he went to Oddbins for a couple of years and then joined Berrys’ in 2001, in the London Shop moving into the Fine Wine Team in 2005. He has a passion for Bordeaux and Burgundy, but also enjoys wines from New Zealand. In his spare time he enjoys country pursuits and photography.

Posts by Ben Upjohn

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Chris Pollington
Fine Wine Advisor

Originally joining Berrys’ in 1997 working in the Heathrow Airport shop, Chris has also worked in our Internet and Telesales departments before joining the fine wine team in 2007. Chris’s great passion is for the wines of Italy, hosting dinners and wine schools on the subject, but he also admits to a soft spot for the great wines of Burgundy.

Posts by Chris Pollington

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David Berry Green
Buyer

David Berry Green joined our Heathrow Terminal 3 Shop in 1994, before gaining a wider experience at Cutty Sark and on www.bbr.com. In 2001 he joined our Buying team and found his raison d’etre. He revels in the excitement and responsibility of finding and nurturing new producers and bringing their wines to the market. He has now relocated to Piedmont in nothern Italy with his family, where his current challenge is to convince a wider audience about Italy’s indigenous varieties and their natural affinity to food. He also buys wines from Alsace, Loire, Germany, Hungary and Austria and is the 8th generation of Berrys, and the tallest, to work in the company.

Posts by David Berry Green

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Geordie Willis
Brand Director

Representing the 8th generation of the Berry family, Geordie has been our Business Development Manager in Hong Kong since 2008. Before this he spent two years as Cellar Manager for Berry Bros. & Rudd in London prior to working for a design consultancy handling UK and International strategies for five years, as well as working in magazine publishing for a while.

Geordie graduated from Newcastle-upon-Tyne with a degree in English Literature degree and is a keen artist, photographer and athlete, having competed in various marathons and sporting challenges.

Posts by Geordie Willis

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Jasper Morris MW
Buyer

Jasper Morris founded Morris & Verdin, highly respected specialist wine importers, in 1981. Despite running a growing business he found time to gain his Master of Wine Qualification in 1985. When BB&R acquired the company in 2003 one of the notable assets was Jasper himself, now appointed Berrys’ Buying Director. His expert knowledge of Burgundy, California and New Zealand has already made an impact on our list and we are delighted to include many new, exciting producers within. Jasper lives in Burgundy and is the author of Inside Burgundy, an essential guide to the vineyards and the people of one of the world’s premier wine regions.

Posts by Jasper Morris MW

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Max Lalondrelle
Fine Wine Purchasing Manager and Bordeaux Buyer

Max was born in the south west of France where his parents made Armagnac, but he now lives in the UK with his wife and three children. He first arrived in England in 1993 and joined Berrys’ in 2000 before joining the Fine Wine Team in 2002. Max’s first wine love is of course Bordeaux but the wines of Burgundy, Rhône and Alsace are a close joint second. Max responsible for buying all Berrys’ Bordeaux requirements – from Berrys’ Good Ordinary Claret to Yquem. As well as all the Fine Wines…

Posts by Max Lalondrelle

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Nick Page
Berrys’ Food & Wine Matching Expert

During a high-flying City career Nick Page caught the wine bug and decided to leave the world of finance to join the world of wine in 1995. For eight years he was the wine buyer and senior lecturer at the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), educators to the wine trade. Nick joined Berrys in 2005 as Manager of Berrys’ Wine Factory Outlet in Basingstoke, Hampshire, where he has plenty of opportunity to put his expansive wine knowledge to good use, particularly his food and wine matching expertise; he is one of our most popular Wine Educators.

Posts by Nick Page

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Nicholas Pegna
Asia Director (ex HK & China)

Nicholas Pegna joined Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Fine Wine Broking Department in 1998. He became Director of Sales of Berry Bros. & Rudd’s business in Hong Kong at its inception in 1999 and Managing Director in 2004. He joined the wine trade in 1993 and since that date has worked in several areas of the business including wine retailing, wholesaling and fine wine broking. He has also travelled extensively in the wine-roducing regions of the world including France, Germany, Italy and Australia and has written a monthly wine column for a French lifestyle magazine, “Living France”. As well as his responsibilities on the management front, Nicholas is also part of a small team which buys the new Bordeaux vintage every year for BBR globally. Nicholas was appointed Commandeur D’Honneur de L’Ordre du Bontemps, Medoc et Graves – Sauternes & Barsac, in June 2005 in Bordeaux, in recognition of services to Bordeaux and Chevalier de Tastevins in Burgundy in December 2006.

Posts by Nicholas Pegna

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Rebecca Lamont
Wine School

Rebecca Lamont has worked in the wine trade for seven years and joined BBR in 2000. On graduating from RSMD in music she worked as a Head of Music in Bermuda – however she became intrigued by wine and changed careers. Rebecca is the face of Berrys’ Wine School and is responsible for all ticketed events in The Cellars including Tastings, Dinners and Events. Rebecca is a Master of Wine student.

Posts by Rebecca Lamont

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Simon Berry
Chairman

Simon Berry joined Berrys in 1977; 10 years later he became Marketing Director and has been a board member since 1994. He was made Deputy Chairman in November 2002 and became chairman three years later in 2005. Before joining the company, Simon spent two years working in France for various wine producers including Moët & Chandon in Champagne, M. Chapoutier in the Rhône, 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. He is on the Council of the Wine & Spirits Trade Benevolent Society, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Vintners and a member of the Académie du Champagne. He is also the Clerk of the Royal Cellars and the holder of the Royal Warrant of Appointment as wine merchant to HRH the Prince of Wales. Simon has lectured on wine on many occasions, and to many institutions throughout the UK and his articles have been published in several magazines, notably Vogue, Debrett’s International Collector and The Economist Review of the Year. He has also contributed to many television and radio programmes. Simon is married to Lucy and has two stepchildren Clarissa and Charlie and two Labrador dogs. In his spare time, Simon loves watching Chelsea play football and is an avid theatre fan.

Posts by Simon Berry

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Simon Field MW
Buyer

Simon Field has worked in the wine trade for nine years and joined BBR in 1997. On graduating from Oxford in modern languages, he worked as a chartered accountant – however he became bored by banking and intrigued by wine and changed careers. A passionate opera lover, Simon is a committed Francophile and is responsible for buying wine from many of the major French wine regions as well as Spain, Portugal, England, Chile and Argentina. His particular speciality is for the wines of southern France and the Rhône. He gained his Master of Wine qualification in October 2002.

Posts by Simon Field MW

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Simon Staples
Asia Director

Simon Staples spent his post-school years hacking through jungles, trekking through deserts and exploring the remotest parts of the world. When the wanderlust was satisfied he returned and took up his next great passion: wine. He was a sommelier at many top restaurants before beginning an illustrious sales career in 1989, running Harrods’ wine department. In 1996 he joined Berrys as Assistant Fine Wine Manager. Simon has been very fortunate as his job has allowed him to taste many legendary wines. He loves St Juliens and Pauillacs, and top Premier and Grand Crus from the Côte de Nuits. Possibly because of his travelling he likes to think of himself as ‘the Indiana Jones of the wine trade’.

Posts by Simon Staples

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Vicky Williams
PR Manager

After leaving university with a degree in Journalism Vicky became a Newspaper Reporter. After five years, Vicky decided to leave behind a life of parish council meetings and school fetes and move into PR, and it was The Vineyard at Stockcross – a five star hotel with a two Michelin star restaurant in Berkshire, which sparked Vicky’s passion for wine. Joining us as PR Executive in October 2004, Vicky now manages Berrys’ PR strategy for the UK and Hong Kong.

Posts by Vicky Williams

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Rob Whitehead
Spirits Buyer

Rob started with Berrys in March 2006, initially working at the Heathrow Airport shops. After moving to the London shop, his passion for spirits which first blossomed during his university days in Oxford, bloomed to the fore. Rob’s Yorkshire roots reveal a keen eye for value, and he enjoys exploring some of the more obscure spirits and wines of the world. That being said, he keeps returning to red Burgundies, the whites of Alsace and Germany, Jamaican and Demerara rums and of course Scotch whiskies.

Posts by Rob Whitehead