Peter Lunzer is one of UK’s leading wine experts, a raconteur, and a gentleman host with a unique ability to make all events entertaining, enlightening, and engaging, always ensuring that guests head home with a positive feeling.
How did you get into your area of work?
The answer is that I had originally thought I was going to become an architect and have managed to get onto the course, which was a good start and of that seven-year course I survived a little less than two, by which stage my father, bank manager and the tutors realised that it’s not about to be the next Sir Christopher Wren. So, I went back to what had been at a holiday job with the wine company. So some in some sense. I’m still in my holiday job quite a few years later.
I’m still in my holiday job quite a few years later
And when did you set up on your own?
So I worked with other companies for, in hindsight, not quite long enough. I should have made a few more mistakes with them before beginning my own company, which in fact dare I admitted, was in 1991. And yes, it’s it’s always interesting when you’re on your own and sort of competing with others in all sorts of areas just to work out the bits that are your strengths and weaknesses. Then of course the market keeps changing. So from 1991 onwards, I began because of the corporate events. But ended up going back into that sort of wine supply world, looking after hotels and restaurants in London. Then in 2003 sort of put both feet into the wine investment world and set up a series of companies. Lots of different exposure in the wine industry. I suppose that is interesting things about the events side of things, that people have a lot of fear about the way in which wine is presented, and that is because producers are biassed and sommeliers have things that they want to promote and wine aficionados and experts and masters of wine have perhaps phenomenal knowledge, but not an immense bedside manner. And what I like to do is sort of cut through the middle of all that by just showing the human side of the stories behind the wines and letting people choose whether they like it or not. So it’s a slightly different approach. I do think that producers do go to many large wine merchants and offere commission for quantities sold of certain wines.
OK so my quick fire questions
Canapes or three course dinner? Canapes.
What would be your favourite? I think something very traditional, such as make salmon can be created in many different ways. I was at the Lansdowne Club last week they did a very nice canapé, smoked salmon twirl with creme fresh with slight horseradish flavour inside on a very nice blini. Simple but delicious.
DJ or live band? Live band Is anyone in particular? I am old fashioned I have to confess that I spent many, many years in with a choir called the Tallis Chamber Choir earlier. So classical music as opposed to much else, but. And therefore, if we talking about band most of our work was with the English Chamber Orchestra.
Favourite aroma? I think it might be blackcurrants on the basis that it reminds me of Cabenet Sauvinon.
Disco ball candlelight? Candle light
Velvet, linen or any other sort of fabric? For some reason leather, I used to ride horses. Something about the saddle
What sort of advice would you give your younger self? Firstly, to think of the industry in terms of where you want to be in it and use more time to work out what other people have done to try and get to that position, before setting out on your own. And the second thing is. It’s always better to be in partnership with someone, if you can. Two minds a bit like Rolls Royce on Marks and Spencers that they they come with the world from different angles, but the combination is far better than the sum of the parts. But everyone will advise you that partnerships that are most risky things on the planet because of differences of opinion. But yes I think that it’s right that if you could set out from day one with that vision that we are two different skills sets but with the same goal. That probably is the ultimate.
