From Paris and Cap Ferret, to the Adelaide Hills, Amber Gardner of Nomad London has plunged herself into her subject. Here, she details the key to her success.
A year spent living between Paris and Cap Ferret during my Erasmus year really solidified my obsession with all things French, as well opened my eyes to a whole new culture that I hadn’t been privy to previously: wine. A brief stint in Rome following university stoked the fire even more. On moving to London, I started a role with the small wine importer Jascots, as a Customer Services Sales Assistant (which involved a lot of phone answering and writing tasting notes!).
After almost two years there, I had an opportunity to work under Claire Thevenot MS as a Junior Account Manager for Enotria (now Enotria&Coe). I jumped at the opportunity, realising the potential for learning and connection that Claire could offer me (Claire ran pretty much every prestige account at Enotria). However, it wasn’t a one way street; Claire set the bar high and expected a lot from me. I read and studied obsessively, listened and watched.
The more I learned, the more that I felt that I was missing a core element to my knowledge. I wanted to immerse myself in wine, to get my hands dirty and to actually see and touch all these things I was talking about. How did a basket press work? How hard would it be to do punch downs? What did Pinot Noir taste like straight from the vine? I decided that I was going to move to Australia. And so, I went about asking every Australian at work whether they may be able to help me. Unbeknownst to me, my friend and colleague Ella Shaw was part of South Australian family estate Shaw + Smith. With her help, by 27 January 2016, I was in my Blundstones and shorts getting my hands dirty in the Adelaide Hills.
Harvest flew by and I was offered a position working the cellar door at Shaw + Smith. I had already decided to stay in Adelaide, enthralled with having the Hills, McLaren Vale, Barossa and more on my doorstep. Plus, I was in the beating heart of the natural wine movement in Australia (Jauma, Gentle Folk, Ochota Barrels and Lucy Margaux were our neighbours) which was bristling with excitement and lending me further insights to farming practices and the world of organics/biodynamics. Eventually, armed with pretty decent wine knowledge, I made my way into the restaurant scene of Adelaide.
My visa came to an end in 2018. I headed back to London, via Auberge de Chassignolles in Auvergne, France (learning all about French natural wine this time!). Fast forward a few years, working with Leroy, a pop-up in Lisbon and Davies & Brook, I find myself joining the wine team at NoMad as they open their first venture outside of North America.
Key moves
Without a doubt, moving to Australia was a game changer for me. Spending two years in a culture and community of wine making, farming and food was not only inspiring, but gave me a depth of knowledge that I don’t think I could have garnered had I stayed in London. The Aussies are also very good at teaching you how to simply love what you do!
On my return to London, working with Ed Thaw at Leroy was pivotal for my career in restaurants. So much of the hospitality industry centres on friendships and connections. At Leroy, I was in the thick of it; meeting importers, going to tastings and spending time with industry peers. That experience connected me to so many people that have helped, guided and inspired me in my career in the last few years.
Communication and being inquisitive have been the foundations of every job I have won. My leaders at Davies & Brook taught me that everything can be learned, but you need to have the desire to learn and the stamina to keep pushing yourself. I also think there is a lot to be said for being nice!
I always knew that studying French would be one of the greatest assets in my life and I have been proved right. I just wish I had also done Italian! Getting my WSET Levels 1-3 under my belt early on helped immensely with my confidence. Deepening my knowledge and setting my experience apart has been helped by doing harvests and spending time with winemakers in Australia & Europe.