Nothing to Wine About | A Q&A with Wine Connoisseur Tom Surgey

Tom Surgey  is a young, confident, and energetic wine expert and presenter. He is a natural communicator with a sense of humour and plenty of charisma. Tom presents at wine masterclasses and pairing events across the country, is a director at a luxury English Sparkling Wine business and is part of Oz Clarke, Olly Smith and Tim Atkin’s Three Wine Men tour.

We caught up with Tom to chat about where his wine journey began, where in the world wine has taken him, and what's sitting in the pipeline for him!

Hey Tom! So let’s start at the beginning. When did the interest in wine start?

I worked in pubs from about fourteen and it was all about beer in the early days. It was Sancho, the amazing Manager at The Ivy that suggested wine might be my thing initially. Over the course of many busy services, I slowly began to chip away at the complexity of wine.

What is your favourite part of what you do?

I love seeing the moment the audience begin to get their head around wine. The lightbulb moment where it suddenly doesn’t feel impenetrable and it’s complexity and diversity becomes it’s draw.

Finding the best way to break down the complexity of wine and communicate it to an audience in a fun, succinct way is my sole ambition. That’s my favourite thing.

Your love for wine must have taken you to some far-flung regions. Have there been any stand-out trips?

I have been really lucky with my travels in wine so far. Two places stand out immediately; I visited Rias Baixas in North West Spain last year and it blew my mind. Amazing people, growing unique wines as part of their lifestyle and true to their heritage.

The other great wine place I was at recently was Oslo. They don’t make huge amounts of wine in Norway but the restaurant scene and sommeliers involved were next-level cool. Their relaxed but deeply informed style resonated with me. Lots of modern, non-stuffy wine chat.

If the people you meet could take home one message from you, what would it be?

Wine isn’t elitist. It isn’t inaccessible. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It is made by real people. The whole point of wine is to communicate the culture and character of the place it’s grown. It is authentic.

And finally, what’s next for you Tom?

I am working with a great new wine app called Pingza. Producing short videos to make wine accessible to all. It launches in March/April and I hope will change the game.

There are also a couple of other exciting wine projects in the pipeline but you’ll have to hold tight until I can spill the beans!

My conviction is that wine is best live. On a screen or in a book it will only ever be so good. Getting wine in people’s hands and chatting live is where it’s at. I’ll be doing lots of that.

Thanks for the chat Tom – we can’t wait to see the exciting things you have planned!

For further information or to book Tom Surgey, call us on +44 (0)20 7607 7070  or email  info@speakerscorner.co.uk .

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