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Writing About Wine: An Interview With Tim Atkin

What's your favourite thing about wine? For many of us, wine is something magical. It evokes passion. It's a way to discover charming foreign lands. And yet wine can also be a mystery.

In this blog we're going to be interviewing wine experts and aficionados to get a flavour of what they love about wine, how they were first introduced to it, and what they are excited about now in the world of wine.

In the first of this series, we're honoured to welcome Tim Atkin, an award-winning wine writer and Master of Wine with 25 years' experience. Tim writes for a number of publications, including The Times, Decanter and Woman and Home, appears regularly on BBC1's Saturday Kitchen and runs his own wine school at Vinoteca in London. He's a co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, the world's most rigorously judged blind tasting competition.

Tim, welcome to SommelierCellar!

How did you first get interested in wine?

I studied French at university and was lucky enough to spend my year abroad in Avignon, very close to Chateauneuf du Pape. That sparked my interest.

Do you have any particularly fond wine-related memories?

Yes, they tend to be people and place, as well as bottle-related. I've been lucky enough to travel to most of the world's vineyards and to meet some fascinating people. Interviewing Gerard Depardieu was probably my favourite moment.

What do you enjoy most about your work as wine journalist?

The fact that it's so diverse. And it doesn't feel like work most of the time. A friend of mine calls it the most "un-job like job in the world".

Would you have any recommendations for someone who’s a budding wine journalist today?

Consider another career? Seriously, the future is on line. If you want to write about wine, start blogging now.

What developments in the wine world are you most excited about for 2011?

Natural wines. And some new countries like Turkey, Lebanon and China.

What projects do you have planned yourself for this year?

Expanding my website www.timatkin.com.

For someone who’s just getting into wine and is keen to try something a bit different, are there any wines you’d suggest?

Taste as widely as possible. And always trust your own judgment.

If you could be sharing a bottle of wine anywhere in the world right now, what wine would it be and where?

A bottle of great Sherry on the beach in Sanlucar de Barrameda.

Tim, thanks for your time and for sharing a little of what wine means to you.

To find out more about Tim, visit his website at www.timatkin.com. You can also follow Tim on Twitter, where he's @TimAtkin.

Monday, 10 January 2011 11:35:54 Europe/London