Steven Spurrier declared ‘the great man of wine’

Wine critic and producer Steven Spurrier was declared ‘the great man of wine’ at Le Gavroche last week, where his vinous achievements were celebrated in style.

The menu at the celebratory event featured this image of Steven Spurrier taken by his wife Bella, capturing him in 1981 at his Paris wine shop – Les Caves de la Madeleine

Having been named 2017’s Decanter Man of the Year, publisher of the wine magazine Sarah Kemp arranged a congratulatory lunch in London for Spurrier, which, at his request, was held at Le Gavroche – a restaurant also in a celebratory state this year having reached its 50^th anniversary.

During the meal, Kemp described Spurrier as ‘the great man of wine’, pointing out that he was the 34^th Decanter Man of the Year, before commenting, “If you hadn’t worked so closely with Decanter, you would have won this award over 20 years ago.”

Nevertheless, she stressed that Spurrier, who is consultant editor at the title, did not win this award because of his work at the publication.

Listing his many roles since Spurrier joined the wine trade in 1964, Kemp said he was a “taster, writer, communicator, merchant, educator, and now vigneron, and most of all, an influencer.”

Continuing, she said that Spurrier had during his long career “legitimised countries and regions,” and described him as “label agnostic: the only thing that counts for you is quality.”

“Quietly and modestly you have given a voice to wines of the soil,” she added, noting that while Spurrier has promoted the “pioneers”, he has, at the same time, “always celebrated the classics.”

Also paying tribute to Spurrier’s achievements was wine writer Hugh Johnson, who called Spurrier “a pillar of opinion who everyone respects”, before drawing attention to his unique sense of style: “We all want to know who your tailor is,” said Johnson, before later commenting, “Nobody but you could give a party like this.”

Speaking briefly at the lunch, Spurrier said that his great “love” concerned “communicating”, commenting that his Paris wine shop, Les Caves de la Madeleine, “was much more about communicating the pleasure of wine than selling it.”

Continuing on the theme of communication, he then said, referencing his more recent career in publishing, “And what better method of communication than a wine magazine.”

Looking back over his life, he said, “Wine has brought me more than I could have imagined,” while, speaking about his sparkling wine project in Dorset, Bride Valley Vineyard – which he began in 2009 – he remarked, “In principle, Bride Valley is the last throw of the Spurrier wine dice.”

Finally, he told attendees in a light-hearted manner that they could read all about his life in wine in a forthcoming autobiography.

In January this year, Spurrier was appointed as the Honorary President of the WSET, a position he described as a “great honour”.

Following news of this new role for Spurrier, db interviewed him about his life in wine, where he stressed that the trade should focus on wine’s “value for pleasure”, as opposed to highlighting its “value for money”.

Meanwhile, he admitted that his most memorable wine moment occurred when he was just 13 years old.

Read more

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The lunch menu for the event in honour of Steven Spurrier