Tim Johnston was educated
at a very second-rate public school, from which I escaped aged 17'. He worked for Findlaters for a few months, before eight months in slavery' at Chteau Cantenac-Brown.
He apprenticed with Hedges & Butler, and in 1969 he moved to France, where he has been involved with several wine bars, including Willi's and Juveniles with Mark Williamson, The Blue Fox with Steven Spurrier, and Tournon in Bordeaux with Alex Herbage. He has written for Wine International, Wine Spectator and Saveur. He has vinified in France (Bordeaux, Hermitage and Provence), America (Chateau Montelena, Jordan Winery and Bill Wheeler's winery on Dry Creek Road) and Australia (Cullen). Juveniles sells wine for off- as well as on-premise consumption, and Johnston is available to source French wines.
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Wines of Chile
Annual Trade Tasting
Lord's Cricket Ground
London NW8
Tuesday 13 September
10.30am-5pm
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Do you know how glass is made? Sorry? Yes, it's got sand in it. Anything else? No? A straw poll among the Harpers team certainly showed up our manufacturing ignorance, but many people seem to take for granted the vessel that protects and contains the precious liquid that we spend most of our time writing about. If you'd like a full breakdown of what goes into glass, rather than what goes inside it, then see below. In a nutshell, it's a mixture of sand, limestone and soda ash.
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How did you end up running a hotel in the middle of Devon?
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You started your business 26 years ago today. How did it come about, and why Ottery St Mary?
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In Roman times Campania, the region that lies to the south of Latium, was the vacation land of choice for the rich and powerful.
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On 14 April, amid brass bands, waving Union Jacks and the clink of Champagne glasses, P&O's new ship, Arcadia, slid out of Southampton water on her maiden Mediterranean cruise.
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The slender, ribbon-like stretch of vineyards that falls between the jagged Vosges mountains and the Franco-German border is a tangle of contradictions.
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Why did you become a sommelier?
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2005 is already a landmark year for the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC). In March, the company opened its new, customised premises in Dunsfold Park, Surrey, with a 25,000-bottle capacity and room for expansion.
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When the Bordeaux growers admitted over recent years that they were in crisis, the Sauternes producers must have given a wry smile. They have always been in crisis, fashioning a wine that is universally admired but rarely purchased.
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Oak's long association with wine is a remarkably enduring one, based on the serendipitous discovery that the two complement each other rather well.
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With the exception of sun-loving categories such as Champagne, Pimm's and lager, the drinks trade has traditionally waited until the run-up to Christmas before launching into a frenzy of marketing and promotional activity. Although, arguably, this pattern is less true for wine brands than spirits - with ros being, obviously, far more of a summer drink than Scotch or Bailey's - most brand owners still have concentrated on the crucial November/December bi-month for their big promotional pushes. A few brands and generics might have made an appearance on the County Show circuit or at the odd classical music concert, but major summer campaigns from wine's big players have been the exception rather than the rule.
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What was the starting point for the business?
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It's always tempting to look at people's lives and think, what if? In the case of Joseph Berkmann, what if he had completed his schooling, gone to university, and become - what? The sort of Mercedes-driving Austrian plutocrat who roars up behind you on the motorway, headlights flashing? Probably not; but it's impossible to guess, because the event that changed the course of his life also changed Austria and the world: it was
the Anschluss.
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When wine folk speak of Valpolicella, they are almost invariably referring to the magnificent hilly zone lying north and west of the city of Verona.
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When considering Friuli, there are certain accepted truths' that need to be discarded. First, the idea that Friuli is solely a land of white wine production; this is largely correct, but by no means entirely. Second, the notion that Friuli (or Friuli-Venezia Giulia to give it its full and more proper title) is a compact unit, when in reality it is highly complex and variegated.
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What is the difference between running your own place and being head sommelier in a Michelin-starred restaurant?
As head sommelier you can focus all your time and energy on the wine list and its profitability. You also have lots of staff. Here, I am the sommelier, general manager and owner all in one, and the responsibility is endless. I've got 15 staff to look after, and maintenance issues that continually knock at the door. I'm very lucky because my wife Sharlyn is from a marketing background and she manages that side of things, but we had a baby boy last August so it has been pretty tricky.
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Flanders, which since its partition has straddled both Belgium and the Netherlands, is the home of jenever (genever in Holland, genbre in Belgium and genever in the UK; traditionally also called Schiedam or Dutch Gin).
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Why did you decide to become a blender?
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