My wine spiritual home is definitely Italy. They very rarely do a bad bottle.
That’s not just an opinion — it’s the thing that pulled me properly into wine. Italy’s wine is a lot like its coffee and fashion. It’s big and bold. It grabs your attention and then makes you question everything you’d been expecting. Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone della Valpolicella — wines built on structure and depth, on centuries of craft and terroir. Wines that tell you exactly where they’re from and make no apology for it.
That’s the experience I want to share with every tasting I run.
Who I am
I’m Giles. I live in Avebury, in the heart of North Wiltshire — a landscape that has its own quiet magic, and a community I’m proud to be part of. I’m WSET Level 2 qualified and working towards Level 3, but my real wine education started long before any formal qualification.
I spent 25 years in luxury hospitality — much of it in the Caribbean, running operations in the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas that ranged from small, intimate businesses to multi-million pound operations. My time there was equal parts honing my skill and learning from the best, as it was passing on my knowledge and skills to the next generation. At the smaller companies I prided myself on knowing each customer by name, by their preferences, by their story — and being genuinely their friend.
That instinct — to really listen, to notice, to remember — is what I bring to wine. Picking up on people’s tastes and preferences instinctively helps me curate recommendations that genuinely enhance their experience. And if I can make that knowledge fun, witty and with a little story, I’ll make everything just a little bit more memorable.
From Majestic to Michelin
More recently I spent a year in wine retail at Majestic Wine in Marlborough, which gave me a broad, practical grounding across hundreds of producers, regions and styles. But Majestic was fairly static. A Michelin-starred restaurant will be more fluid — moving with the trends, pairing with the seasons. I’ve sat at the table in some of the world’s most celebrated restaurants and watched great sommeliers do exactly that. Fantastic wines paired to amazing food will give as much knowledge to me as I can pass on to guests. That’s the standard I’m aiming for.
A word on Super Tuscans
One of my favourite conversations to have at a tasting is about Super Tuscans — the wines that broke Italy’s strict DOC rules in the 1970s by blending international grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon with native varieties. Whilst these vineyards and wines may have been punished at first, they are now the exception to the rule. Sassicaia, Tignanello, Ornellaia — rule-breakers that became icons. It’s a great reminder that the best things in wine (and in life) often come from people willing to do things differently.
What Wiltshire Wine is about
Wiltshire Wine started as something I did for my community — informal tastings at the local Clubhouse in Avebury, introducing people to regions and styles they hadn’t tried, watching the moment someone discovers a wine they didn’t know they’d love. That moment never gets old.
It’s grown from there. Local events, private bookings, corporate tastings, pop-ups — and always the same philosophy underneath it all: wine should be exciting, not intimidating. There’s no wrong answer, no silly question, and absolutely no snobbery. Just good wine, good conversation, and hopefully a new favourite in your glass by the end of the evening.
Ready to find your next favourite wine?
Whether you want to join an upcoming tasting, book something private for a group, or just want a recommendation for tonight’s dinner — I’d love to hear from you.