Our Team

A visit to Sancerre when I was 17 years old and a student in Paris, persuaded me to work in Wine. I started Thorman Hunt in Sept 1978 and today just a little older we are fortunate in representing some wonderful growers and here at TH we have a great enthusiastic team. As we visit each region every year they each become a favourite - we are spoilt for choice! Salut!

Richard Lashbrook MW

After a brief career in banking, I saw the error of my ways and joined the wine trade in 1987. I have been with Thorman Hunt since 1990. The years have rolled by, but there are always new cellars to visit, as well as our old, established vigneron friends. Rather like policemen, my customers seem to get younger every year - but they keep me on my toes!

I have been in the Wine Trade since September 1976 when I joined Christopher Tatham, one of the early Masters of Wine and the perfect tutor for a keen then young man like myself; Christopher's attitude to quality, as shown in the company he then ran, was very similar to those of Thorman Hunt today. I joined Thorman Hunt in July 1989 so am by now becoming, perhaps, a rather antique part of the furniture! I work throughout the country selling to good independent retailers and wholesalers, and felt, a little while having joined the team, that we could do with a range of House Wines and other less expensive sources, which is why most of my buying work has been in the Languedoc where good value wines such as these are to be found. I am especially fond of all our Cru Beaujolais, where we are quite probably pre-eminent in the UK; classic French red wines which never fail to give me pleasure. My times together with our friends from Massaya, and so the Middle East, have added a fascinating new dimension to my life, and I have been on two extraordinary trips to the Lebanon. A great company, employing a great team, thereby ensuring that I have the best job in the Trade.

Alastair Llewellyn-Smith

Thorman Hunt must exert some strange charm on me, as I've never stayed so long in the same job! I'm greyer now, though, than in 2000. Choosing a favourite wine is as hard as picking one's Desert Island discs, but at the moment I prefer old Nebbiolo to anything else.

Simon Hore

I joined in December 2004 and sell  to independent retailers and wholesalers all over the country. Having started in the trade with Oddbins, then worked in retail for La Reserve in Walton Street before moving into wholesale with Moreno, Wine Cellars and Morris & Verdin.

Camille Relandeau

Raised near Chablis, I studied Agronomy and Oenology. Having spent my whole working life in the wine trade,  I've covered everything from production to sales, and even French Wine Administration! My favourite wine is Puligny Montrachet, which I really enjoy as an aperitif with "gougères" (cheese choux from Burgundy).

Vanessa Morand

I grew up in Normandy with a wine merchant dad and I have been with Thorman Hunt for the last 10 years. My favourite drinks are Champagne Veuve Fourny Blanc de Blancs and Montifaud Cognac.

I have worked for a number of companies in the trade, both large and small, where I have held sales, management and operational responsibilities. But, I have not known a business more passionate about the quality of its wines and service to its customers as Thorman Hunt. Favourite wines? Well, I'm spoilt for choice but I have a particular soft spots for the range from the southern Rhône and our new listings from Sicily.