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The Team

The Head Honchos

Eric Narioo a.k.a. Le Grand Fromage

In a bid to escape the paparazzi drawn by a failing rugby career, Eric fled from France to English shores; it was here, in the hope of shaking off the memories of his past, that he turned to drink.  Chancing his luck, he happened upon a Peter Dominic’s store in which a certain young Adrian Scholes happened to be working, and he soon infiltrated the team.  Nicknamed ‘Old Treacle Tongue’ for his remarkable success with female customers, Eric also imparted his Gallic charm on to his colleagues, often recounting blow-by-blow accounts of the previous weekend’s rugby fixtures - invariably this would have resulted in yet another trip to A&E to have his hands/face reconstructed.  Clearly struggling to shake off his boots (and his roots), he returned to France, promising Adrian that he would one day return, and that together they would carry out ‘The Master Plan’.  The rest, as they say, is history…

Liz Reid

Famous for her ability to play the flute whilst tuning a piano, Liz could rival Nick Cave and Barry White in the lower ranges of her musical talent, whilst simultaneously (almost) giving Maria Callas a run for her money.  Despite getting close to the top, she decided not to join the superficial world of music with a singing career, but instead decided to pursue a more worthwhile career in wine drinking...sorry, that should read selling.

Douglas Wregg a.k.a. Sir Wregg a.k.a. The Occasional Royal Visitor

Doug, erstwhile director of Sales and Marketing, joined Les Caves de Pyrène in 1996 when it was but a tiny embryo; now it is a much larger embryo. Having worked in restaurants for several years, he was the classic example of poacher turned gamekeeper, using his experience as a sommelier to persuade all and sundry that now was the hour for regional French wines, a mantra he has been repeating plaintively for the past ten years. Eric convinced him that he would be mad(-iran) not to work with him and being a suggestible kind of (iroule-)guy Doug couldn’t refuse and joined the small, but merry band of vin-archistes hawking Les Caves’ unique brand of lyrical terroirism. Whilst not selling, Doug works on perfecting his own version of Casaubon’s key to all mythologies, a philosophical wine list so referential and self-referential that it disappears up its fundament into the verdant grass of left field, and so extensive that it has been described as everything from “the ultimate encyclical draft-excluder” and “the cure to insomnia” to “the magnum opus that you wouldn’t want dropped on your foot.”

Adrian Scholes

Having refused all approaches from Guinness to front their campaign promoting the black stuff, and hence leaving the door open for budding actor Rutger Hauer, Adrian carried on his quest for the perfect pint.  After much pondering, he finally decided to branch into wine importing and selling, on the grounds that the drinks business would be the most likely avenue to help him achieve his dream.  Having conquered the only hurdle that loomed in the form of his driving test, nothing could stop him.

Now Adrian, could you just explain to us whose lipstick that is you’re wearing?

Philippe “Err… Umm...” Lubac

Philippe is a guy so cool cats could take correspondence courses from him. He passed our stringent medical examination, succeeding in matching Eric for vinous excess. On top of managing a multitude of trade accounts, Philippe is a veteran of numerous buying trips.  He has purchased the ten crus of Beaujolais, a considerable chunk of the Rhône, and consistently manages to discover yet more obscure grape varieties from regions we are not even sure really exist.  This is a man at his most happy when let loose in Burgundy with a company credit card and an empty car boot.  Philippe’s great passion is for amassing wine: he has a magnificent private cellar and a virtually encyclopaedic knowledge of the top growers.

The Street Hawkers

Phil Barnett a.k.a. El Flaco a.k.a. Phil B Two Ts

When not playing the guitar (badly) or avoiding DIY, Phil enjoys scuba diving, sunny places, and eating and drinking. He has held many diverse positions (although not the Karma Sutra) such as Banker, Busker, Restaurateur and Euro-Layabout and even managed to squeeze in eight years working in Central and South America (Manana Republic). Prior to joining Les Caves, Phil spent five years with Jascots in London - a suitable stepping stone to greatness.

Gideon Clow a.k.a.The Big Hairy Wine Rep

A late starter at University with a huge thirst for knowledge, which was invariably quenched by downing pints of beer in under three seconds in the Union bar, Gideon worked at various eateries in London, eventually meeting Doug whilst incarcerated at The Chiswick and then Villandry, where he became one of our biggest customers. To put an end to complaints about vintage changes, we decided to offer Gideon a job with us and turn his inestimable charm upon unsuspecting restauranteurs across the capital.

Dario Poddana

Dario was born in Germany, the offspring of a Sicilian mother and a Sardinian father - be nice to him as he has a couple of ‘uncles’ who work in construction… We first met Dario whilst he was the export manager for Gianni Gagliardo, supplying us with our first foray into Sicilian wines, a section which is now a major part of our Italian portfolio. It has taken a concerted effort and numerous tastings, but he is now beginning to enjoy (and sell) French wines as well.

Patricia Sliwa

Our first dealings with Patricia were when she was working for Thierry’s, selling us Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne (including the famous ‘pineapple’ bottles of their Palmes d’Or). Patricia does a fantastic job of keeping all our regional wholesalers’ palates whetted with their favourite vinous oddities, but in the process seems to spend more time on the M1 than should be reasonably expected of any human being.

Carlo ‘Bello’ Lupori

Carlo is one of the latest additions to the Sales Team, hailing from Bari in Puglia. Before joining us he was the sommelier at Mr Conran’s Sartoria in Savile Row. He is a breath of fresh air whenever he appears in the office, and from what we hear he is making a similar impression upon our insatiable customers.

Didier Cappa

Half French and half Italian, this man puts on a fantastic English accent just to confuse us all. Didier first encountered Les Caves whilst working behind the bar at one of our favourite foie gras spots, Cellar Gascon in Smithfield. They didn’t let him drink enough there so he sidled up to Eric one evening and proffered his services (as a salesman) - we snapped him up immediately and the rest is, as they say, history.

Thierry Talibon

An extremely well-known face on the London restaurant scene, Thierry has worked as a manager and sommelier for a raft of high-end eateries across the capital, infusing them all with his very individual style and sense of humour. For many years we tempted him with offers to come and seek gainful employment with us before he finally succumbed a couple of years ago to our collective delight.

Timothy Wildman MW a.k.a. Monsieur Le Sauvage MW

Tim’s multifarious previous incarnations include such roles as Shaolin Monk, Melon Picker and Beagle Trainer, interspersed with his slightly unusual hobbies of Medieval battle re-enactments, ferret racing and frisbee golf. Tim first met our company whilst selling us some New World blends, but is now the champion of some of our more wilfully obscure grape varieties such as Hondarrabi Xuri and Schioppettino. Tim’s claim to fame (that 15 minute thing) is that he once appeared on ‘The Big Breakfast’, where it was voted that he should shave off his beard (looks like it worked).

David Canadas a.k.a. GT (Goat Track)

David is another in a long line of members of staff hewn from the Oddbins block, the crowning moment of his High Street career being that he sold Richie Benaud a bottle of Aussie wine - “marvellous delivery that”, he reminisces.  David was born in fascist Madrid under Franco, moving to London in the 70’s and along the way has acquired an immense aversion to Angel Delight.  Apart from supporting some terrible football teams, David apprently cooks the best tortilla in West Norwood (we are yet to find out). Since he arrived on Les Caves shores he has done a wonderful job sourcing an ever-burgeoning range of Spanish wines and looking after a diverse range of accounts.

Florian Perate

Having left home at the tender age of fifteen, Florian stumbled through the doors of the celebrated bar à vin, Aux Crieurs de Vin, in Troyes.  Soon he was going every weekend to visit growers, harvesting, studiously reading books and doing practically everything he could to absorb all things vinous – including a bit of drinking too, of course.  We first met Florian at Terroirs, where he worked under the tutelage of a certain Vincent Wallard, and he charmed the punters with his cheeky grin, sporting a rather fetching diamond earring.  Florian has since cultivated some nice sideburns and joined our team of sales reps, spreading the good news of natural wines wherever he goes.

The Pencil Pushers

Amy Morgan a.k.a. The Voice of Reason

Amy has been with the company for quite some time now (although, it seems like a lot longer than that to the rest of us...) and regularly has the office staff prostrating themselves in front of her in order to glean some kind of lowdown on when we might next expect Eric at Pew Corner. When she is not dressing up as Santa on pub crawls (e-mail us for photos), Amy deigns to don a cocktail dress and rinse it with hoi palloi of the wine world and invariably becomes the life and soul of the party. As General Manager and P.A. to Eric, Amy has a thankless task on her hands and we all salute her heartily for the magnificent job she does.

William ‘Will Do’ Johnston

Our erudite Office Manager, famed across the land for his ability to drink his own bodyweight in Prosecco, Will spent his youth balancing the demands of academic life alongside the rigours of the top-notch training programme at Oddbins. Then, seeing the error of his ways, he decided he would be better off gaining meaningful employment with a company that promotes the imbibition of ‘Real’ wine. And it must be said that he embraced the challenge wonderfully, and can often be spotted wistfully swirling a glass of something cloudy in a darkened corner of our shop, accosting anyone prepared to listen to his mutterings concerning carbonic maceration and the judicious use of sulphur. 

Paul Jackson

Paul joined Les Caves in 1996 as a van driver, and has possibly held more roles within the company than any other member of staff. Twice he has tried to break free by heading off to foreign climes, both times to be drawn back to the fold because of his love for the ever elusive holy grail of Pinot Noir (it was a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin). An ex warehouse party DJ and general lover of electronic music, Paul enjoys nothing more than torturing his friends and colleagues with the latest piece of production that he has painstakingly created in his front room.

Charles Porter

Svelte, “nomadic” Charles Porter, whilst not tasting wines on behalf of thirsty customers and company representatives, can usually be found clinging to the side of his capsized dinghy in Chichester Harbour - eat your heart out Chay Blyth. Our Logistics Manager has been with the company since time began and probably has the longest commute of any member of our office staff - it just goes to show to what lengths people will go for a glass of Pacherenc…

Helen Stanborough

Helen is pivotal in keeping our demanding customers happy (when she’s here, that is). She took her training with Majestic (well, someone had to) but she came well-equipped to handle everything we could throw at her.  She re-joined us after a nine month absence to bear the fruit of her loins, and a jolly good job she did of that too.  Sprog number two is now well on the way, so once again we bid Helen a fond adieu…

Vanessa Woodfine

Multilingual Vanessa joined us not all that long ago, and she works closely alongside Amy, helping to oil the cogs in our PR & Marketing department and also liaising with suppliers. She describes her role as ‘Je fais un peu de tout’. In her spare time, Vanessa can be found dangling from ropes at the local climbing centre or wielding a brush dipped in oil paint. Vanessa grew up in France and later spent a year in Italy. Known around the company as ‘Audrey’ because of her eyes, Vanessa once ate five large bars of fruit and nut in two days and her biggest lapse of judgement thus far in life came when she tried (unsuccessfully) to hoover out the frost from a freezer.

Vicky ‘The Riddler’ Riddell

Miss Riddell has a great vinous background, having spent six months working a sun-drenched vineyard in New Zealand. A shoe-collecting ex-trombone player, Vicky has a huge penchant for New World wines. She holds a fabulously useless degree in Tourism Management and Sports Tourism Management, which we are sure managed to clinch her the job in her previous employment as ‘Lettings Negotiator’ - we won’t hold it against her.

Emily ‘Pocket Rocket’ Jones

Emily does a fine job in keeping our customers topped up with vinous delights. With a back-packing history as an Art graduate, she loves to cut crazy shapes on dancefloors wherever she goes. Emily picked up a nasty Malbec habit in South America, which she is finding hard to shake, and she once spent seven hours wedged between two cockerels and a dog on a bus in darkest Cambodia. She has also confided that she HAS to end a meal with something sweet.

Howard Bradley

A local lad, Howard learnt his graft in one the many fine public houses to be found in the area (namely J D Wetherspoons – nothing wrong with that, but they’re not one of our customers, mind) and as an Economics graduate at Bristol UWE.  Having arrived back in the UK fresh off the boat from a round the world trip to far-out places, he has anchored his roots with us here in Guildford, and has rapidly established himself as (self-confessed) “funny man” and “people’s poet”.  It should also be noted that Howard is a football nut, and it has taken a herculean effort to persuade him to give up his prawn sandwiches in favour of natural wines.  We’re getting there (we hope).

Charlotte Pemberton

A recent arrival to Les Caves, Miss Pemberton - known to us as Pems, Pembo or just plain old Charlie P - garnered a degree in Biology before heading off round the world climbing, drinking, sunbathing and “raving”.  Alongside being able to match us drink for drink at the pub, she has taken to the frenetic pace of office life with masterful aplomb and has quickly established herself as a very competent member of the team.

Gareth ‘g.d’ Davies

Dark stallion of the sales desk, Gareth infiltrated our office on the back of a late gap year, and has surprised us all with his killer combination of deadly wit (who knew it was possible to be that dry?) and (seemingly) infinite linguistic abilities.  An avid devotee of the culture of Friday tastings in the office, Gareth has taken to life at Les Caves like a mallard to something sodden.  The week is never really underway until he has arched a quizzical eyebrow at whatever new perplexing conundrum confronts him.

Ben ‘Seeds’ Fisher

Young Ben is the most recent addition to the team.  After studying winemaking at Plumpton College and gaining his Advanced WSET, he decided to try his luck with us. When Ben is not calmly dealing with the demands of the sommelier elite of London, he loves nothing more than driving the odd steam train, deciphering the indecipherable or taking a long walk. His two claims to fame are (A) being turned down for a job by those sneaky folks at Vauxhall Cross and (B) winning the ‘Harveys Bristol Cream Challenge’ at college - don’t ask!

The Number Crunchers

Natasha Snelling

Larger than life financial accountant Natasha has been ‘cooking the books’ for us for some time now and settled in to the Les Caves way of operating very quickly (although she wore a suit for her first day). Natasha has an unnatural penchant for Ted Baker clobber and very fast cars, and can be found most weekends going at 130mph in the fast lane of the A3, heading for the TB sale at Gunwharf Quays with her husband’s soon-to-be-empty wallet. She has an intense distrust of any transport that is public, and needs to take multiple shots of Sambuca if forced to step on board the number 37.

Justine Cresswell

A parachuting ex-school nurse who loves a good book, Justine is queen of the Credit Control department. She sits around her cauldron all day, chanting incantations to shrivel the nether regions of restaurant accountants countrywide, cackling to herself. There are, of course, frequent pauses to visit the great tea-bearing kettle in the sky for nourishment and guidance.

Yvonne Baker

Our jovial accounts administrator joined us a while back now, fresh from a full-body mud pack and seaweed wrap at the spa. She has a thankless task with us, dealing with the myriad of invoices, final demands and threatening letters that pile through our letterbox on a daily basis. Yvonne, in the little time she gets to herself, enjoys nothing more than kicking back on a sun lounger with a bottle (or two) of wine and soaking up whatever the nearest star to Earth has to offer.

The Shopkeepers

Virginie ‘Nini’ Champalou

We had been buying ethereal Vouvrays from the Champalou estate for many years, when one day we found they had shipped their daughter to us, tucked away inside a pallet. Now an invaluable part of the team at Les Caves, Nini runs our retail outlet in Guildford and organises all the tastings we have at the shop. Her other great skill is being able to drink every man in the place under the table - no mean feat, we can tell you.

James Board

James took his wine training with Laithwaites, working in one of their shops before heading on to greater vinous employment with ourselves. He is an ardent fan of “The Cultural Teachings of Peter Cousins” (our Warehouse Manager), and when James isn’t slumped in the corner of some Spanish nightclub with a slightly glazed expression on his face, he loves hanging out with his ‘homies’ in the damp, dark streets of Pyrford, discussing such pertinent topics as Hinduism and Huggy Bear.

Peter Cousins

Pete is from the old school: he’s from a time when men were men and beer meant bitter. He has been with the company since its early days in Twickenham, where he began his illustrious career as a delivery driver. Uncle Pete is now the resident Warehouse Manager at Pew Corner, where his wealth of experience, skill and patience is tested on a daily basis (mainly by Anthony). From forking his way around Borough Market in the late evening, to attempting to fathom Anthony’s latest nonsensical outburst, Pete is always willing and able to rise to the challenge. 

Anthony Williams

Anthony is not renowned for his wine pronunciation or common sense; ‘reliability’ is the word which probably best sums our intrepid delivery driver.  He is always at the ready, whatever the ‘palaver’, be it helping customers to carry wine to their cars, painstakingly polishing every last bottle in our shop, or cooking bacon sandwiches by the dozen. ‘Tony’, as he is also known, can and regularly does navigate the streets of London like a seasoned professional, stopping at nothing to get customers their wine - including traffic signals and pedestrians.  Put quite simply, Les Caves could not operate without the services of Tony ‘Bottle Smasher’ Williams.

The Extras

Robert Giorgione

We call Robert “The Man with his Finger in all the Wine Pies”.  He embodies EM Forster’s social dictum “only connect”, by being probably the most active food and wine blogger spinning his contact web in the UK - his website (http://www.robertgiorgione.com) aims to bring the interactive sommelier and his epicurean odyssey to as wide an audience as possible.  Robert’s background was as a sommelier shimmering around top establishments such as the Oxo Tower, La Tante Claire and Orrery, where his lists were critically lauded. He then launched into a career of wine consultancy, collaborating with various professional and private clients including little old us, as well as being an active member of the Court of Master Sommeliers and providing wine advice, bespoke tastings and events, food and wine pairings, mentoring and tutoring. He’s judged on many wine trade awards and writes regular food and wine articles for a host of publications. Gary Vaynerchuck – look to your laurels.

Christian Gaucher

One of the founding members of the company.  Having qualified from university, where he was an active member of the local ‘Dead Poets Society’, Christian managed to drag himself away from the crowd and decided to try his hand at teaching maths.  It wasn’t long, however, before he decided the classroom wasn’t the place for him and he embarked on an epic adventure through the Amazon Rainforest, feasting on grubs, discovering Inca settlements, and generally pretending to be Indiana Jones.  Unfortunately, his map reading skills got the better of him and he accidentally stumbled upon British shores, where he was reunited with Eric, an old friend from his university days…

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