Steven Spurrier (5 October 1941 – 9 March 2021) was a British

wine expert Instead of common selection criteria for the entire list, notability of people involved should be checked against the description of each sector. Sectors are arranged from cultivation through processing, starting from vineyards to consumption ad ...

and merchant who was described as a champion of French wine. Spurrier organised the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which unexpectedly elevated the status of California wine and promoted the expansion of wine production in the New World. He was the founder of the ''

Academie du Vin An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

'' and

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

Wine Course, in addition to authoring and co-authoring several wine books.

Early life

Spurrier was born in Cambridge on 5 October 1941 to John and Pamela Spurrier. His father joined his family sand-and-gravel business in Derbyshire after the Second World War. Spurrier was educated at Rugby School, before studying at the London School of Economics. His interest in wine was first piqued after drinking 1908

Cockburn's Port Cockburn's Port ( ) is a port wine producer in Portugal. Cockburn's was set up by Scotsman Robert Cockburn in 1815, who returned to Portugal after first visiting the country as a soldier fighting under Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars. It la ...

when he was 13 years old.

Career

Spurrier entered the wine trade in 1964 as a trainee with London's oldest wine merchant Christopher and Co. In 1970 he moved to Paris where he persuaded an elderly lady to sell him her small wine store, in the Cité Berryer, a passageway off the rue Royale, From 1971 he ran the wine shop, ''Les Caves de la Madeleine'' where clients were encouraged to taste wines before they bought them, which achieved recognition as a highly regarded specialist wine shop. With partners

Jon Winroth Jon Winroth Broneer (born November 13, 1935 in Athens, Greece; died July 15, 2006 in Tours, France) was an American wine critic who lived and worked in France. Biography Second son of Oscar Broneer, a Swedish immigrant to the United States who ...

and Patricia Gallgher in 1973 he started '' L’Academie du Vin'', France's first private wine school, which was central to the wine education of several wine personalities such as French wine writer Michel Bettane, and

Charles F. Shaw Charles Frank Shaw Jr. (born September 15, 1943) is an American businessman and former winery owner whose name is used for Charles Shaw wine, a brand of inexpensive table wines. Born in Michigan, Shaw graduated from the United States Military Acad ...

, namesake of "Two Buck Chuck". Spurrier went on to stage the influential "Judgment of Paris" Tasting of 1976, when a

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

and

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

from California were ranked above some of the most prestigious wines of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

and Bordeaux. Spurrier sold his wine interests in France and returned to the UK in 1988, becoming a wine consultant and journalist. He was director of The Christie’s Wine Course, which he founded with Christie's Education in 1982. He was also a wine consultant to Singapore Airlines, and consultant editor to '' Decanter''. In 2018, he starred in the documentary SOMM 3 alongside

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

where he discussed the Judgement of Paris while tasting some of the world's finest wines. In 2019, he founded the Academie du Vin Library with Simon McMurtrie to publish wine writing. The Library published the latest edition of his memoir in 2020.

Awards

Spurrier received several international awards for wine writing including Le Prix de Champagne Lanson and the Bunch Prize, both for articles published in ''Decanter''. In 2001 he was awarded Le Grand Prix de l’Academie Internationale du Vin and The Maestro Award in honor of Andre Tchelistcheff. In 1988 he was made ''Le Personalite de l’Annee'' (Oenology) for his services to French wine. He has also received the Ritz Carlton Millennia Singapore Lifetime Achievement Award and the ''Prix Louis Marinier''. He was a regular judge on the international wine tasting circuit and the chairman of the Japan Wine Challenge and the ''Decanter'' World Wine Awards.

Portrayal

Alan Rickman portrayed Steven Spurrier in the 2008 film '' Bottle Shock''. During its production, Spurrier warned of taking legal action in the event of misrepresentation. Having read the script, Spurrier stated, "There is hardly a word that is true in the script and many, many pure inventions as far as I am concerned". A documentary by Jason Wise about the 1976 tasting is planned for release in summer 2022.

Personal life

Spurrier was married to the former Bella Lawson from 1968 until his death. Together, they had two children: Christian and Kate. Spurrier died from cancer on 9 March 2021, at his home in the Bride Valley English Wine Estate, in Litton Cheney, Dorset. He was 79.

Bibliography

*''The Academie du Vin Concise Guide to French Country Wines'' (1984) *''How to Buy Fine Wines'' (1986) *''Academie du Vin Wine Course'' (1991) with Michel Dovaz *''Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide'' (1998) with Oz Clarke *''Wine—A Way of Life'' (2018) *''Steven Spurrier: A Life in Wine'' (2020)

Notes

References

External links

Steven Spurrier's blog
at the Wine Society of India {{DEFAULTSORT:Spurrier, Steven 1941 births 2021 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British businesspeople 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers Alumni of the London School of Economics British male bloggers British memoirists Deaths from cancer in England People educated at Rugby School People from Dorset Wine critics Wine merchants