Francis Gimblett: The Wine Adventurer
His humble beginnings, aged just 19, saw him start out as the youngest ever head sommelier at the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Since then Francis Gimblett, aka: The Wine Adventurer, has travelled the globe for the last 25 years working in almost every aspect of the wine trade.
He set up the world’s first wine entertainment business, Taste of the Vine, in 1997, fusing wine tasting and improvistational stand-up comedy. He now hosts tasting shows in London twice a week at a variety of venues, and this week he’s launching his new book: In and Out of Africa: In Search of Gerard Depardieu.
Where does the title of your new book come from?
‘I hosted a wine tasting on The Graham Norton Show on BBC2, with Gerard Depardieu. He was plugging his new Moroccan wine, which I thought was good. I wanted to find out more about his wine after the show, but he ignored me, maybe taking offence to my line that nose size is unimportant in wine tasting, a theme that Graham Norton took up on. Having travelled all of the world’s major wine regions, I decided to track him down in his vineyard with my Land Rover.’
Can you tell us about the book’s creative process, from conception to completion?
‘For the four weeks away I made observations in a pile of ringbound notepads with a view to writing an article, but soon realised that there was a bigger story to be written.
‘I decided to write the book in novel form, and focus on humour and intrigue as the key features, as I didn’t want the book to be a travel diary, or reference guide. I had read enough about getting published for the first time, and the difficulties therein, not to bother going to an agent or publisher, and instead started a small publishing company.
‘Since then I have enjoyed the process of promoting the book almost as much as the trip and the writing of it – I suppose a result of being a bit of a showman too.’
Which area of London do you find most inspiring?
‘Any wine cellar, particularly City-based. London is one of the most diverse places to drink wine in the world and has always been. As early as the 1300s a wide array of wines would have been traded on the banks of the Thames from far-flung places.
‘I started my career in the 1980s working underneath Cannon Street Bridge’s arches on the south side. It was part of my job to count the bottles and, as I did, I tried to picture the places from which they came.’
Where in London would you find the perfect wine?
‘There are lots of great places to experience good wine, and there’s no better than Vinopolis in Southwark as an introduction. After a tour of the wine museum, there are a number of bars and restaurants that serve excellent wines by the glass, so you can mix and match with your foods.’
What is the philosophy behind Taste of the Vine, and where can we attend events?
‘I started Taste of the Vine 12 years ago, because I found the best bit about working for a wine importer was standing in front of a crowd and making them laugh, rather than selling wine. I wondered whether there could be a business in it.
‘We have now run over 2000 shows in 42 countries. The events are almost entirely corporate, but we do host shows for Red Letter Days wine tasting breaks. There are plans for a West End-style show for the public, but not for a year or two.’
Francis Gimblett’s London book tour dates:
1 December: The Big Green Bookshop, Wood Green (evening)
3 December: Stanfords, Covent Garden (evening)
5 December: Waterstone’s, 421 Oxford Street (in store all day).
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