Speaker Biographies
BACK TO LIST- Steven Spurrier
STEVEN SPURRIER was educated at Ruby School and the London School of Economics. In 1964 he joined the wine trade as a trainee with Christopher and Co (established 1665). In 1970 he moved to Paris and purchased Les Caves de la Madeleine, a small shop in the centre of the city, and in 1973 opened L'Academie du Vin, the first independent wine school in France. As a partner, he became involved in diverse ventures allied to wine: Le Bistrot a Vin (a winebar/restaurant in the business quarter of La Defense); Le Chemin des Vignes (a warehouse and bottling plant on the outskirts of Paris) and Le Moulin du Village and Le Blue Fox (a restaurant/winebar near the Caves de la Madeleine). Spurrier is perhaps best known for having created the tasting between top Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California and France in May 1976, subsequently referred to as The Judgement of Paris. A re-creation of this event was held 30 years to the day on May 24th 2006, simultaneously in London and Napa. During his time in France, Steven was an official judge on the Paris and the Macon wine competitions and in 1988 was named "Le Personalité de l'Année (Oenologie) for services to French wine. In 1988, he sold his wine business interests in Paris and returned to the UK to become an independent wine consultant. His clients have included Harrods in London and Hédiard in Paris and are currently Singapore Airlines and Christie's for whom he created the Christie's Wine Course in 1982. He is also Consultant Editor for Decanter magazine and President of the Circle of Wine Writers. He is currently Chairman of the Japan Wine Challenge, the largest wine competion in Asia and also Chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards, which began in 2004. He is also in constant demand as an international judge. He is the author of several books on wine of which two: L'Academie du Vin Wine Course and L'Academie du Vin Guide to French Wines have been translated into several languages. Currently, he is the co-author with Oz Clarke of The Clarke-Spurrier Guide to Fine Wines, published by Webster's International and upated and republished in October 2000. Some of the prizes and awards that Spurrier has won include "The Bunch Award" for articles in Decanter in 1996, "Le Prix de Champagne Lanson" in 1997, "Ritz Carlton Millienia Lifetime Achievement Award" in 1999 and "Le Prix Louis Marinier" for writing on Bordeaux in 2000. In 2001 he was awarded "Le Grand Prix de l'Academie Internationale du Vin" and also "The Andre Tchelistcheff Maestro Award" from California. Steven is married, with two adult children, and lives, when not traveling, in London and Dorset.
