If you already know me, you are let-off reading this introduction. Several people who get this list will not necessarily have come across me, and may want to know something of my credentials before taking the plunge and trying some of my wines.

Although I have spent most of my working life as a farmer, I have had a keen interest in wine since I was in my early twenties. I started a small wine club in 1966 that specialised in shipping wine in bulk and bottling it inside one of the farm buildings on Sunday mornings, with the enthusiastic help of the club members. It was all great fun, and there were no breathalysers then I am pleased to say.

In 1973, when my Father and Uncle retired from farming, I turned my hobby into my business, importing wine direct from mainly French vineyards and selling it to private individuals as well as to hotels, restaurants and duty free to ships and airlines. I also acted as a consultant to Jackson's of Piccadilly, South African Distillers, and served on the tasting panel for the Ritz Hotel and QE2. In 1979, when Madeleine and I decided to go back into farming, I sold the major part of my business to my main competitor, retaining a core of private clients whose cellars I have been looking after for years.

I mainly specialise in buying Bordeaux wines 'en primeur' (in the cask at the vintage). I have been regularly buying wine for my Clients in this way since the great 1970 Vintage, although nowadays, it is getting more and more difficult to get hold of the top names because of an ever-growing World-wide demand for the top quality wines.

Since the prospects in farming have become bleaker, we have contracted out the fieldwork on the farm to our neighbouring (younger) Farmer, and this has given me more time to take on new Clients. I have now enlarged my range to import reasonably priced wine from many small and interesting producers for all of us to enjoy, both for daily drinking, or to lay down for later, or both.

As I have no employees, I am able to make considerable savings on costs, and although some of my wines do appear sometimes on the lists of smart London Merchants, they do so at considerably higher prices than mine! I also keep my lists fairly short to avoid confusion, and you will find that many of the wines keep appearing year after year in different vintages because the quality is so consistent.

I select all my own wines, with the valuable help of my 'Common Palate' Wife Madeleine. I look for wines that I am going to enjoy drinking myself, and because I have a grumbling duodenal ulcer, you can be quite sure that anything unbalanced or over acidic will have been removed at an early stage. I hope you will find this list interesting, and that you may decide to try some of the wines for yourself. I will always take back any wine you don't like. I do this for fun. I hope you will enjoy it too.