Vintners' Tales – a guide

27 March 2025 Dr Arabella Woodrow was responsible for buying wine for UK supermarket The Co-op at the time of this 1992 interview by Jancis, re-released today. 

20 March 2025 In this week's episode, Jancis interviews Marco Pierre White's French sommelier, Claude Douard.

13 March 2025 In this week's episode, Jancis interviews Roy Richards and Mark Walford of wine importers Richards Walford. See also Jancis's 2016 profile of Richards, All about Roy, republished today.

6 March 2025 In this week's episode, Steve Daniel of Oddbins is interviewed by Jancis.

27 February 2025 In today's episode, Jancis interviews Philip and Andrew Byrne of Lancastrian wine merchants D Byrne & Co.

20 February 2025 In this week's episode, Jancis interviews Edmund Penning-Rowsell.

13 February 2025 This week, John Avery MW takes the spotlight.

6 February 2025 This week's episode features Nigel Wilson.

30 January 2025 This week, Corney & Barrow, featuring Adam Brett-Smith.

23 January 2025 This week, Carla Carlisle of Wyken Vineyards.

1 January 2025 We're planning to publish a link to a newly improved episode of this BBC TV series each week.

In the early 1990s Nick and I were asked by the BBC to make a series of 10-minute programmes about notable characters in the wine world to fill a slot they then had just before News at Ten.

It was delightfully easy to think of suitable subjects and so we got together with director Frank Hayes to produce the first series of six, which went out in 1992, the ones with an ancient book in the title sequence.

These went down well and we were asked by Mark Thompson, then controller of BBC2 and subsequently CEO of The New York Times, to come up with a second series of six. This one was directed by David F Turnbull and it aired in 1998. Episodes in the second series begin with the name of the subject on a black background.

Both series were garlanded in the then-important Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards and even won me Food and Drink TV Personality of the Year in 1999, the only time the award was ever made. Though looking back, I seem awfully stilted (and unlined).

In 2008 we sold a DVD of such Vintners’ Tales episodes as we could find in aid of Comic Relief. David Williams, then editor of the UK trade magazine Wine & Spirit and now wine writer for The Observer, wrote a very generous review of them.

We managed to track down nine episodes for this charitable venture and it is those nine that we are reissuing on YouTube on successive weeks, as shown below. They were previously on YouTube but pretty poor quality. The tech team with which we are now blessed has been working on them and has substantially improved the video quality. We do hope you enjoy them.

And if by any chance you know where we can find the missing three – on Richards Walford, D Byrne & Co of Clitheroe and Howard Ripley – do please let us know via the Contact link at the bottom of this page. We’d love to share the full range.

You can find out more about our various TV productions, including Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course, a series of 10 30-minute programmes filmed (no video) around the world which went out in 1995, in Old wine movies now online in full.

Episodes

Listed below are the episodes of Vintners' Tales (and their scheduled dates of release) on the JancisRobinson.com YouTube channel. Each episode title will become a live link once it is released.

Episode 1  Harry Waugh (26 December 2024)

Jancis interviews Harry Waugh (1904–2001), one of the most influential wine merchants in the British wine trade. He started his wine career in 1934 working for Block, Grey and Block. After serving in the Welsh Guards in WWII, he became a buyer for Harvey’s of Bristol, where he spent the majority of his career. There he also wrote several books: Bacchus on the Wing (1966), The Changing Face of Wine (1968), Pick of the Bunch (1970), Winetaster’s Choice (1973), and 10 volumes of Harry Waugh’s Wine Diaries (1972–1987). In 1989, he was made an Honorary Master of Wine.

In this interview, filmed in1992, Jancis and Harry discuss a life-changing trip with Bordeaux merchant Allan Sichel, importing wine from Beaujolais, bringing knowledge from California to Europe, and selling his cellar in order to fund the education of his children – born when he was 69.

Episode 2  Bill Baker of Reid Wines (2 January 2025)

In 1992, Jancis interviewed Bill Baker (1954–2008), a UK wine merchant with a generosity and energy that surpassed his girth (which was impressive). Cambridge-educated, he joined Averys of Bristol in 1976, then went on to set up Reid Wines, a West Country wine merchant, in 1980. He was one of the first merchants to sell fine wine by the single bottle – a topic he and Jancis delve into in this interview. They also discuss some less-than-satisfactory sparkling wine, his campaign to improve the food at his primary school, the benefits of buying from private cellars and his amusing method of dealing with past-due accounts.

Episode 3  Farr Vintners (9 January 2025)

Farr Vintners, founded in 1978, is Britain’s largest wholesale fine-wine merchant. In this 1992 episode of Vintners’ Tales, Jancis interviewed Farr Vintners directors Stephen Browett and Lindsay Hamilton. The duo poke fun at each other’s vintage years, discuss the pricing of first-growth bordeaux, dish on what it’s like to work with auction houses, and discuss the move from young upstarts to legitimate members of the trade.

Episode 4  Michael Broadbent MW (16 January 2025)

Michael Broadbent MW (1927–2020), auctioneer, writer and wine critic, was one of the most famous personalities in the world of wine. After serving in the Royal Artillery, he began his wine career at Layton’s Wine Merchants in 1952 before working at Saccone & Speed and Harvey’s of Bristol. In 1960, Broadbent passed his Master of Wine exam. A few years later he joined Christie’s, creating their specialised wine department and launching wine auctions. Throughout his career he was a prolific writer and published over a dozen books, the most popular being Michael Broadbent’s Wine Tasting (2000) and The Great Vintage Wine Book (1991). In 1998, Jancis interviewed him for this episode of Vintners’ Tales. Here they discuss his career as an auctioneer, the rivalry between Sotheby’s and Christie’s, his famously copious note-taking and the wines that have most stood out in his years in wine.

Episode 5  Carla Carlisle of Wyken Vineyards (23 January 2025)

In 1998 Jancis interviewed Carla Carlisle, the Mississippi-born owner and operator of the UK’s first vineyard restaurant, Wyken Vineyards, and long-running columnist for Country Life. They discuss the challenges of growing grapes in England, the dangers of developing ‘cellar palate’ and consumer perceptions of English wines. They then visit what was then one of the country’s first custom-crush facilities before tasting through a few Wyken wines.

Episode 6  Adam Brett-Smith of Corney & Barrow (30 January 2025)

Adam de la Falaise Brett Brett-Smith is the managing director of one of the UK’s oldest independent wine businesses, Corney & Barrow – but this wasn’t always the case. When Jancis interviewed him for this episode of Vintners’ Tales in 1998 he discussed his difficulty in breaking into the wine trade and considered what he would have done if he hadn’t managed to gain a foothold. Brett-Smith extols the merits of Bordeaux and the timeless qualities of the wine industry and comments on the rising demand for luxury wine in Asian markets. We’re given a glimpse of an office lunch, the company’s warehouse in Essex, and the roaring business being done at Corney’s testosterone-scented wine bars (now defunct).

Episode 7  Nigel Wilson of Lincoln College, Oxford (6 February 2025)

Professor Nigel Wilson was a fellow and tutor in classics as Oxford from 1962 to 2002. Around 1992 it became his responsibility to keep the cellars of Oxford’s Lincoln College stocked with some 20,000 bottles of wine. In 1998, when Jancis interviewed him for this episode of Vintners’ Tales they explored the cellars of Lincoln College. While grappling with locked doors and previously emptied cellars they discuss the pricing of bordeaux, Oxford’s declining consumption of port, and Wilson’s impressively diverse collection of wines.

Episode 8  John Avery MW of Averys of Bristol (13 February 2025)

In 1998, Jancis interviewed John Avery MW (1941–2012), head of Averys Wine Cellars and chairman of the International Wine and Food Society – a man whose disorganisation is said to have been exceeded only by his generosity. In this episode he and Jancis discuss Ronald Avery, the founder of Averys; the company’s biggest business disaster; and one of the many brands he and his father brought to Britain.

Episode 9  Edmund Penning-Rowsell (20 February 2025)

In 1998, Jancis interviewed Edmund Penning-Rowsell (1913–2002), her wine-writing mentor and predecessor at the Financial Times. As well as writing for the FT, Penning-Rowsell was chairman of the Wine Society for more than two decades and wrote a number of books including the much-lauded The Wines of Bordeaux. A life-long socialist, he responds to Jancis’s query about connoisseurship being at odds with socialism with a quip about how the Tories shouldn’t have all the best wine. Penning-Rowsell gives Jancis a tour of cellar and discusses how he began collecting wine, his love of classical music, and his belief that the best way to consume wine is with company.

Episode 10 D Byrne & Co (27 February 2025)

D Byrne & Co is an award-winning independent wine merchant established in 1879 in Lancashire, famous for its low prices. In this episode of Vintners’ Tales, filmed in 1998, Jancis interviews the fourth generation to run the shop, Philip and Andrew Byrne. The brothers talk about the early start to their careers, how they divide their duties, their approach to pricing, the regions they believed offered the best-value wines then and the pride they take in their work. Jancis explores a seemingly orderless storeroom that the brothers navigate effortlessly and attends Philip’s birthday with all 13 of his siblings!

Episode 11 Steve Daniel (6 March 2025)

In 1998, Jancis interviewed Steve Daniel, buying director for Oddbins – which, at the time, was owned by Seagram. In this combative interview Jancis challenges Daniel, poking at the perceived hypocrisy of having a passionate, underpaid and idiosyncratic staff employed by a large multinational with every incentive to promote its own brands. She then visits The Balmoral in Edinburgh for Oddbins’ annual Scottish Wine Fair, where she is made to dance at the Cèilidh. Finally, she joins Daniel for a tasting of unsolicited samples sent to Oddbins for consideration.

Episode 12 Richards Walford (13 March 2025)

In 1998, Jancis interviewed the men behind one of the UK’s leading wine importers – Richards Walford. Roy Richards and Mark Walford seem to be perfect foils – Richards the analytical academic and Walford the charismatic and entertaining frontman. Jancis interviews them separately, asking how they met, what each other are like to work with, and how they created relationships with some of the most enviable suppliers in the world of wine. Walford’s shooting lunch and Richards’ thoughtful discourse make for one of the most entertaining episodes in the collection.

Episode 13 Claude Douard (20 March 2025)

In 1998 The Restaurant Marco Pierre White sported a £1.6-million cellar that was overseen by a French sommelier named Claude Douard. In this episode of Vintners’ Tales, Douard claims to have an innate ability to identify which guests will spend money on wine and to be able to steer those guests towards certain bottles. We are given a glimpse of Douard tableside and then on a buying spree for the restaurant at Christie’s auction house.

Episode 14 Dr Arabella Woodrow (27 March 2025)

In 1992, Jancis interviewed Jasper Morris MW’s sister Dr Arabella Woodrow, the woman responsible for buying wine for one of the UK’s largest food retailers – The Co-op. At the time of filming, The Co-op was responsible for one in every 12 bottles of wine sold in the UK. Jancis and Woodrow discuss the quantity of wine she buys, the immense popularity of Lambrusco and Liebfraumilch, and the need for immediate drinkability when buying for The Co-op. A glimpse into customers’ reactions to in-store tastings and a saleswoman who calls an 11.5% alcohol Corbières ‘strong’ and ‘full-bodied’ gives us a clue into just how much the market has changed since the early 1990s.

Episode 15 The Marchioness of Bute (3 April 2025)

In 1992, Jancis interviewed Lady Jennifer Bute, the Marchioness of Bute in Scotland and the proprietor of Bute Wines, an importing company. Bute discusses how she built her astronomical personal wine collection, how she found her customers, and how she juggles the responsibilities of running a wine-importing company alongside her duties keeping up Mount Stuart House (a manor so large that she doesn’t know how many rooms it contains).