Claire Roberts

Sales (East Devon)

My passion for wine started at about the age of seven, when I used to soak off wine labels and stick them into a battered and much loved scrapbook, (the prettiest labels were on the German wines my mother loved so much). With a degree in Hotel & Catering Management under my belt I cooked my way around Burgundy on a luxury hotel barge indulging my new found love of Pinot Noir, after which a year in Australia, cooking and waitressing in some great restaurants gave me a taste for big bold Aussie wines which were beginning to make a big splash on the UK wine scene.

On my return, finding myself in Edinburgh in 1990, I touted my CV round some prestigious wine merchants, most of whom were kind, many suggesting I try Oddbins, which I duly did. Then followed five very happy years working in branches around the country with some fantastic people, gaining the WSET Diploma, working with my future husband, and ending up as the manager of the Exeter branch from where it is a mere hop, skip and a jump of ship to working for Chris Piper Wines in Ottery, (in 1996!) where I am even happier. On returning to work part time in 1999 after the birth of my first child, Chris and John suggested a new challenge - out on the road to sell to hotels, pubs and restaurants, which to my constant delight and surprise, I love.

The first thing you find out on entering the wine trade is how little you know about wine, (and how you will never learn everything as each vintage brings something new). The second thing you discover is how much fun it is learning, especially with such fantastic people (co-workers and customers alike) as your fellow journeymen! How lucky am I?

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