Words on wine, the people who make it and a few other things by me, Sophie Thorpe.

I’m currently Group Campaigns + Editorial Manager at FINE+RARE, where – among other things – I look after their Editorial section. I previously spent nearly seven years doing a similar sort of thing at Berry Bros. & Rudd. In 2019, I started working towards the Master of Wine, hoping to continue to uncork bottles under the premise of “studying”. I own more books than I can read, obsessively buy wine beyond my means and spend a worrying proportion of my salary on food. I have been published on jancisrobinson.com, twice shortlisted for the Emerging category at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writing Awards (2017 and ’18) and was awarded the Guild of Food Writers Drinks Writing Award (2021).

This blog is an excuse for me to visit more producers, open a few more bottles and tick restaurants off my wish-list. If you want tips on weekday wines, recommendations under £5 a bottle and supermarket selections: you’re in the wrong place. I’m interested in the stories behind a wine, the character of a place and the personalities involved. I’m hoping to capture just a little of that here.

If you like what I’m doing, think I’m missing a trick or you’d like to commission me to write something elsewhere, please drop me a line.

PS All opinions expressed here are wholly my own.