Luke Richardson is the sommelier at wine bar Le Di-Vin in Edinburgh. In his new column for SLTN he will be sharing his thoughts on all things wine-related and answering your questions about wine. Email your questions for Luke to sltn@peeblesmedia.com
WELCOME to my new wine column!
I’ve been working in the industry for around 20 years now – originally as a waiter and then as a sommelier, reaching the dizzying heights of the head sommelier position in a couple of Michelin-starred restaurants in London, with just about every other environment thrown in along the way. I have served royalty, just about every celebrity worth a mention (and more not) and now work serving the good, the bad and the venerable of Edinburgh’s west end.
My line of work means I’ve been lucky enough to try a lot of the world’s truly top wines, some of the worst, and listed thousands of both on vastly different styles of wine list in various situations; hopefully I will continue to do so until I stumble into my grapey grave.
It’s the diversity that keeps me interested, along with the knowledge that I’ll never stop learning or teaching about wine – there is always something more to know!
I hope here to try and show a little bit of this diversity, and perhaps illustrate how to get the best out of wine in a variety of ways.
There will be some bits about trends and fashions, some tips on how, what and when to serve, and a little about how to create a wine list to suit your needs. I welcome questions from your good selves (email me at sltn@peeblesmedia.com) and will attempt to answer them in a straightforward, unverbose manner.
All in all, this column will hopefully be a little of everything for everybody – just as wine itself should be! Watch this space…
On a much sadder note, I would like to pay tribute and remember Mr Gerard Basset OBE, MW & MS, who died last month after a battle with cancer.
He was a true gentleman, a real scholar and responsible for a huge chunk of the improvements in the wine scene in the UK over the last twenty years. He will be much missed by many, and my thoughts go to his family at this difficult time.
