Chris Wood

What is your most memorable wine experience? 

It’s hard to beat the dinner at Arpege Restaurant in Paris when, alongside a plethora of other worldly wines, including a glorious magnum of DRC Montrachet 1998, a truly iconic magnum of Romanee-Conti 1971, personally supplied by Aubert de Villaine, was poured – the silence that descended on the room was something to behold. The power and ability of a wine to move food and wine connoisseurs to their epiphany moment was extraordinary. A life affirming moment.  

If you could choose any wine from the CV Top 100, which one would you pick and why? 

The obvious contenders would be the wines of DRC, d’Auvenay and Rousseau. However I have a soft spot for Chardonnay from the world over that has the ability to deliver a struck match, almost Bacon Frazzle-like character to the palate. It is this umami richness I always crave in Burgundy but for me some of the greatest examples are found in the new world from Penfolds Yattarna through to Kistlers Single Vineyards and The Judge by Kongsgaard. However I have always had a yearning for the perfection that Anne-Claude Leflaive was able to impart to her wines in the early 90s and therefore my pick would have to be anything of hers from this period! Of course Montrachet is always best…  

 You’re throwing a dinner party and can invite anyone, dead or alive. Who do you invite and what would be your signature food and wine pairing? 

Jose Mourinho, Kyle Sinckler, Kevin Pietersen, Lando Norris, Rory McIlroy & Naomi Osaka. Why? Sporting superstars, controversy, raw talent and character. Why wouldn’t you want to share in some of that energy! That said I’d be able to take cover in the kitchen as I rustled up a loin of venison with beetroot, black pudding and pickled girolles. No dietary requirements here! But you would have to enjoy a suitably earthy red. Perhaps La Tache… shall we say 1988? Of course it would have to be a magnum to go around!