Spotlight on Geordie Willis, creative director at renowned Berry Bros. & Rudd

As the man driving the vision behind the UK’s oldest family-run wine merchant, Geordie Willis knows what goes best with a good glass

The design master lives by the mantra ‘everything in moderation‘

Geordie Willis is creative director at renowned fine wine and spirits merchants Berry Bros. & Rudd in St. James’s Street, Pall Mall. Founded in 1698, it is the UK’s oldest family-run wine merchant and supplier of wines to the royal family. As the eighth generation of the Berry family to work in the company, Willis looks after all aspects of design, from print and publishing to photography, labels and interior design. He previously worked in magazines and for a design agency, as well as doing a stint in Asia working out of Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Hong Kong office. “The world of wine is very much about story telling, it has been a wonderful opportunity to apply my background in design and branding to a firm that is so rich in history.”

It was his ancestor, Charles Walter Berry, who cemented his love of wine, imparting to a young Willis the view that the role of the wine merchant is to be “the closest link between those who make the wine and those who drink the wine”. Says Willis: “I’ve always loved the stories behind each individual wine and the people that make them. There is so much more to wine than the bottle and the label. My grandfather Anthony Berry was also a great influence, he helped demystify wine and make it accessible to me.”

The London shop, first opened in 1698, boasts a range of wines from £5 to £5,000 (Simon Peel)

A look at the company’s Instagram account demonstrates Willis’s talent in bringing these elements together and keeping Berry Bros. relevant to all ages, with pictures of the newest restaurant hotspot, comfortably sitting alongside a 1996 Chateau Haut-Brion and 1970 Taylor’s Vintage Port; from queuing for an hour to squeeze into the former and patiently waiting 46 years to crack open the latter, wine lovers of all ages – and all budgets – flock to the treasure trove in Pall Mall.

After saying goodbye to summer’s final Bank Holiday – and the depressing realisation that the next won’t be until December – readers need something to keep their spirits up and carry them through autumn. Geordie Willis provides the very thing – his favourite restaurants and bar recommendations, as well as his food and wine pairings for this week.

What do you love about food and wine, and matching the two?

I don’t think that it’s possible to separate wine and food, it’s such a symbiotic relationship. I’m very fickle, I tend to fall in love with the wines of a region that I’ve recently visited. The simplest food matches are often the best, a wine from the Jura with a piece of Comté or oysters with a young Chablis.

What is your approach to drinking wine?

My grandfather’s advice was always “everything in moderation”. Drinking wine with the right people is often as important as what’s in the bottle.

Do you have a favourite drink for a celebratory mood?

I’m partial to a Negroni and the occasional Martini. Particularly when they’re made with our No3 London Dry Gin by Alessandro Palazzi at Dukes Hotel opposite our St James’s Street shop.

Places in London that you would recommend for their wine list or for their inventive approach to food and wine pairing.

I love Noble Rot, a wonderful new restaurant and wine bar in Lambs Conduit Street. Sager & Wilde in Hackney is excellent and The 10 Cases in Endell Street rarely disappoints.

Wine and food pairings gallery:

Hambledon Classic Cuvée (Hambledon, Classic Cuvee)

Hambledon, Classic Cuvée, Sparkling, Hampshire, England

£28.50, Hambledon Vineyard. Buy it here

Proving that the English are now really giving Champagne a run for its money, this English sparkling wine offers English orchard fruit, yellow fruits and quince as well as lovely biscuity notes. Perfect for any sort of celebration.

2011 Le Soula Blanc

2011 Le Soula Blanc, Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes, France
£24.95, Berry Bros. & Rudd. Buy it here

Catalan gold in colour, the 2011 has distinctive aromatics of honey, beeswax, quince and lanolin. It would be easy to confuse this wine with a fine white Burgundy. Delicious with fish dishes such as turbot.

2015 Berry Bros. & Rudd Sancerre

2015 Berry Bros. & Rudd Sancerre by Domaine David Sautereau, France

£14.95, Berry Bros. & Rudd. Buy it here

Lots of white currant fruit, quasi-Riesling in its purity and lemon/lime zip. A perfect match for goats cheese.

2014 Berry Bros. & Rudd Good Ordinary Claret

2014 Berry Bros. & Rudd Good Ordinary Claret, Bordeaux, France

£9, Berry Bros. & Rudd. Buy it here

Our best-selling wine for many decades, the instantly appealing palate is full of black cherries, bramble fruit and wood smoke. This wine is equally at home with a midweek dinner or a grand Sunday roast.

2013 Au Bon Climat Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir

2013 Au Bon Climat, Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir, California

£22.50, Vinoteca. Buy it here

A wonderfully restrained Pinot Noir from one of my favourite winemakers, Jim “Wild Boy” Clendenen. Great berry and spice notes that would work well with a number of dishes, from rack of lamb to wild mushrooms.