Pip Martin

Pip Martin is the founder of The Wine Adventure. He began his career in wine as a Manager in Harrods Wine Department where he looked after the wine department team and travelled around the UK running wine tastings for private clients.

After Harrods, Pip went on to become Corporate Events Manager at Richard Branson's online wine merchant, Virgin Wines. During his time at Virgin, in little over 15 months, he organised and hosted over 200 wine events for Virgin's corporate clients, including the BBC, Morgan Stanley, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and JP Morgan.

In 2004 Pip was shortlisted as one of 4 finalists for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from Startups.co.uk, the business awards endorsed by Patricia Hewitt, then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He was also the winner of the 2004 Shell LiveWIRE London award for Sector Knowledge. Most recently, in 2008, Pip was included in The Observer and Courvoisier Future 500 (in the drinks category).

Pip's international work includes hosting wine events in Spain, Russia, and South Africa, and co-hosting events in Dublin and Amsterdam. 

His media work has included wine presenting on Sky One's Taste program and BBC1's Saturday Kitchen. Writing credits include wine articles for Condé Nast's Gourmet Travel and Esquire. 

Pip hosts wine tasting events.  

Jancis Robinson

One of a handful of wine communicators with an international reputation, Jancis Robinson writes daily for http://www.jancisrobinson.com, weekly for The Financial Times, and bi-monthly for a column that is syndicated in every continent. She is also editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine and co-author with Hugh Johnson of The World Atlas of Wine, each of these books recognised as a standard reference worldwide.

An award-winning television presenter, she is invited all over the world to tutor wine tastings and act as a wine judge. In 1984 she was the first person outside the wine trade to pass the rigorous Master of Wine exams, and in 2003 she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen, on whose cellar she now advises.

Jancis hosts wine tasting events.   

John Radford

A well known name in all things vinous, John Radford is a writer, broadcaster, speaker and actor who has been entertaining wine loving audiences for 30 years.

John's prolific career in wine includes tasting, judging and consulting. He is also a specialist trainer to those hardy souls who attempt the wine world's hardest challenge, the notoriously difficult Master of Wine qualification.

His book The New Spain (the first complete guide to contemporary Spanish wines) was winner of the 1999 Glenfiddich Award (drinks book of the year), the 1999 Prix de Champagne Lanson (wine book of the year), and the 1999 Versailles Cookbook Fair Award (European wine book of the year).

John hosts wine tasting events.  

Simon Weston

Simon Weston, our head mixologist presenter, heads up a pool of 150 bartenders sourced from London's top bars and retrained to understand the dynamics of event service.

Simon has over 12 years experience of the event industry, and has managed cocktail service for the Frieze Art Fair, the launch of Givenchy Blue Label, Julien Macdonald's LFW after-show parties, the premieres of Kill Bill's I and II, not to mention countless corporate and private events all over Europe.

He has presented cocktail sections on Sky One's Taste program, and his drinks have been featured in Harper's Bazaar, Tatler, Time Out, The Times, The Independent on Sunday and Arena.

Simon hosts cocktail making and tasting events 

Dave Broom (Our Spiritual Host)

As well as being one of Whisky's top communicators, Dave is also the recipient of the 2004 Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award for Best Drink Book for one of his most recent works, Rum.

Dave is also the lead writer for Whisky Magazine and the author of 3 further books. We're also delighted to say he has been involved in drink his whole working life!

As soon as we saw Dave speak in public, we knew he was the man for us. He's a highly accomplished presenter, and his ability to bring his passion to life sets him apart from the crowd.

A Scotsman now living in the South of England, Dave is one of the authentic voices in his field. If you're considering a Whisky (or even Rum) tasting, look no further...

Dave hosts whisky tasting events 

Guy Wolley

A former chocolatier at The Savoy, Guy Wolley is our foodsmith presenter.

A regular on ITV's Saturday Cooks, Guy is also UKTV Food's resident Delicatessen expert, presenting stories from around the world on all aspects of food.

Guy has twenty-five years of experience within the food business, as both a chef and restaurateur. He has also been a regular contributor to magazines, including Elle and Parentwise.

Guy's passions include food, motorcycles, music and foreign travel. He is currently writing his first deli book.

Guy hosts fine food tasting events and chocolate making and tasting events.

Kimiko Barber

Born in Japan, Kimiko learnt to cook with her grandmothers, who taught her three very different regional styles of cuisine from Kobe, Kyoto and the rural island of Shikoku. She attended school in England and went on to a successful career in investment banking.

Inspired by a cookery demonstration at “Books for Cooks”, she changed career path, sharing her passion for Japanese cookery by going on to write a number of award-winning and award-nominated cookbooks.

Kimiko regularly appears as a food expert on television and radio, including BBC1’s ‘Saturday Kitchen’, ‘Ever Wondered about Sushi?’, ‘The Food Programme’ and ‘Woman’s Hour’. A regular contributor to the Food and Drink section of the Financial Times, she also teaches Japanese cooking at a number of UK cookery schools.

Kimiko hosts sushi making and tasting events.

Ben McFarland

Ben McFarland is a specialist beer writer and the youngest person to have won the Beer Writer of the Year award; he took this home in 2004 and 2006 (also winning the award for National Journalism in the latter year). He regularly contributes to many publications including Wine and Spirit Magazine, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian and Time Out.

Ben co-authored The Good Beer Guide West Coast USA (published by CAMRA books in 2008). 2009 has seen the release of his latest tome, World's Best Beers: 1000 Unmissable Brews from Portland to Prague (Aurum Press). 

Ben hosts beer tasting events.