Tell us about the moment you first became interested in wine...
I always liked it, but there was one particular moment that I can attribute to wanting to know more which was when I took my ex-girlfriend to Fäviken (now closed) for her birthday. We had to travel to Norway and then drive deep into the cold Swedish hinterlands to stay for one night, it was an over the top culinary pilgrimage inspired by an impulse booking I’d done slightly tipsy one night in a pub in Kentish Town after watching the chef featured on a Netflix show the day before. We had 35 courses and the wine pairing. Led by an incredible sommelier from New York (who knows how he ended up there as it was truly in the middle of nowhere) the wine was as memorable as the food, and it was all ‘natural’. My bank balance was a mess but the wine list from that night made it into the memory box.
Tell us about your wine list at Oranj
The Oranj wine list is purely about taste and nothing else. If I taste something delicious all I want to do is share it with our customers both online and in the bar. In some cases we will mark down the more expensive bottles so people have the opportunity to try them, a perfect example of this was when we listed a Gravner recently.
Over the course of your career, have you had any wine-related disasters?
Going to my first 100 bottle tasting and not spitting. I’m not sure how I got home that night.
Name your top three restaurant wine lists
40 Maltby Street in London, L’anima del Vi in Barcelona and Aux Deux Amis in Paris.
Who do you most respect in the wine world?
Currently a 22 year old girl from Moldova who we recently hired. Initially she came to us with very little wine knowledge but wanting to learn more. Since then we’ve been training her up and she’s been going to all of the tastings. More recently she’s become one of our most confident front of house team members. Her passion and ever growing knowledge has been inspiring to both our customers and her colleagues.
What’s the most interesting wine you’ve ever come across?
A question I just can’t answer, as this has been happening almost weekly since I started Oranj. But a wine that particularly blew my mind recently was the first vintage of a Chenin Blanc by the Japanese-owned domaine Les Jardins de la Martiniere. I opened a bottle with St John’s Trevor Gulliver and his family when they visited Oranj for the Jake Norman chef residency in February. It disappeared very quickly.
What are the three most overused tasting notes?
Mineral, saline and zippy. I overuse all three of them.
What’s the best value wine on your list at the moment?
Roumerge by La Ferme du Cade (from the Rhone). It’s currently our house red. It’s light and refreshing, summer fruited, punchy in terms of acidity, but not volatile. Light enough to chill. A table red made for 2023 that’s extremely smashable.
What is your ultimate food and drink match?
Cabernet Franc and margherita pizza.
Old World or New World?
Old World.
What is your pet hate when it comes to wine service in other restaurants?
A lack of eye contact from staff towards customers.
Who is your favourite producer at the moment and why?
Anders Frederik Steen (based in France’s Ardeche region). Every time I drink his wines I am reminded why I got into this. They’re so honest and genuine, a true reflection of time, place, grape and his careful decisions on the vineyard and in the cellar.
As the owner of natural wine retailer and wine bar, what question do you most get asked by customers?
What’s your favourite wine?
Which wine producing region or country is currently underrated at the moment and why?
Bugey. It’s kind of sandwiched between Jura, Beaujolais and Burgundy. It’s massively overlooked due to it’s famous neighbours. Technically it borrows from all of them but its soils are unique and make for unique wines. The unsung hero.
It’s your last meal and you can have a bottle of any wine in the world. What is it and why?
A bottle of Charme by Robinot, he’s the wizard and for me it’s his most exquisite potion.
