We're planning to publish a link to a newly improved episode of this BBC TV series each week. Pictured above, in a still from the first episode, is Harry Waugh, Honorary Master of Wine and much else besides.
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)
Episode 4 Michael Broadbent MW (16 January 2025)
Episode 5 Carla Carlisle of Wyken Vineyards (23 January 2025)
Episode 6 Adam Brett-Smith of Corney & Barrow (30 January 2025)
Episode 7 Nigel Wilson of Lincoln College, Oxford (6 February 2025)
Episode 8 John Avery MW of Averys of Bristol (13 February 2025)
Episode 9 Edmund Penning-Rowsell (20 February 2025)