Tim Atkin moves to The Times

Award-winning wine writer Tim Atkin MW is to move to The Times newspaper after The Observer scrapped his popular column.

Atkin, who will continue to contribute to The Observer until the end of March, will make his debut in The Times on Thursday, 4 March as part of a new food and drink section.

A Facebook group under the name “Save The Wine Column” was set up in response to The Observer’s decision to slash the column down to a brief review of two wines per week, and member ship has since grown to more than 1,300 people.

Atkin said: “There is more need than ever for informed, entertaining and critical wine writing and I promise to provide that.

“From the end of March, I will cease to write for The Observer and Observer Food Monthly. I’d like to thank the subs, my former editor on OM, Allan Jenkins, and especially the readers for making the last 17 years such an enjoyable time on the paper.

“I’d also like to thank the 1,300-plus people who joined the Save the Wine Column campaign on Facebook after it was announced that The Observer was cutting my weekly column to a two wine shopping list.”

Alan Lodge, 26.02.2010