I have been in the wine business for over 45 years now. I worked the first 8 years in the Wine Merchant division of John Harvey and Sons in Bristol, the following 10 year as Overseas Buyer for Grants of St. James’s and Victoria Wine and the remaining time running my own business with my husband. Most of this last period has been spent as a wine consultant, mainly helping producers in Europe and South America to make their wines more saleable on the export market. This involved being out of the UK with my clients for around 9 months of the year most years. I travelled around Europe for six months thanks to the Vintners’ Scholarship in 1977, became a Master of Wine in 1980 and was elected a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vinos de Espana in 1988 and am currently on their committee. Latterly I have cut back my working time and now remain with some favourite clients and friends, keeping my hand in by helping with their winemaking and helping to educate the next generations of MW students.