Imran Choudhury wasn’t expecting to work in wine, but 12 years later and he’s hooked for life. Here he talks us through his journey, from his first ever training with a wine wizard, via a trip to California, and into the world of sales.
I never thought I’d end up working with wine. In my formative years, I had exposure to food from our family restaurant, but less so to alcohol – partly due to my heritage.
I studied Hospitality Management at Bournemouth and in my placement year at the Cavendish Hotel, London, I first came into contact with good wine. Quite different from the bottom shelf supermarket bottles my peer group and I had previously sampled! It was here that I undertook my first wine training, delivered by none other than Bibendum Wine – sometimes things come full circle. I was impressed at how the gentleman running the training session could identify an abundance of flavours through the nose, and then double that detail upon taste. He was a wine wizard. All I could smell was grapes.
After that, I started researching more about wine, creating tasting notes and wine pairings for our menus. I started to smell and taste more deeply and like a summer’s morning off the coast of central California, the fog started to clear.
First forays
Once I began working at the Flemings Hotel in Mayfair, I oversaw the wine lists. The first annual tasting event was with Boutinot. This time, I was in a room with real ‘winos’. While the wine we tasted was diverse, they were not – I was struck by being the only non-white participant. I was born and brought up in London and accustomed to people from all walks of life. Surely this was just a one off? More tastings followed, and I started to realise maybe it was the norm.
The Flemings did not have a sommelier and during service I would often help customers with their wine choice. On occasion, a surprised customer would ask: are you sure you know about the wine? Similar to my experience at the company tasting, their expectation was to see a white male European sommelier. This meant that more often than not, I would need to explain myself but a good conversation about the juice would quickly ensue. And, I didn’t let it impact my resolve.
In 2014, I watched the film Sideways about a budding writer and his soon-to-be-married best friend who head to Santa Ynez Valley wine country for the bachelor party. Coincidentally, I first met my wife that summer too. The movie inspired me to visit California, albeit without the Mustang. Just before my trip to Napa Valley (and after a bottle of Cab Sauv), I was scanning industry updates, when I came across an opportunity at Coe Vintners. I hit ‘apply’ and to my pleasant surprise, on returning a few weeks later, I had a voicemail from Coe Vintners asking if I’d like to meet for a chat.
I was offered the role to look after North West London and I happily accepted. On day one, I was introduced to Regional Lead Dave Allen, who was famed in the company for always wearing a suit. Over the years, Dave would not only be my boss, but a mentor and friend.
Hard knocks
The first few months were hard, it was constant door-knocking and pounding the pavements without much success, but it builds your resolve and you quickly realise whether sales is for you or not – it definitely was for me. Winning a new piece of business remains very satisfying, I always imagine that’s what tasting a drop of Screaming Eagle must be like.
During my time at Coes, I managed to develop a good rapport with Indian restaurants. The look of shock from some of the restaurant owners that I was selling wine won’t leave me and they would often tell me they had never met an Asian in wine before. I won many customers over, persuading them to buy wine from us rather than the Cash & Carries. My background in hospitality meant I could understand their needs and explain the product in a clear and relatable way. I learned that with the right guidance these restaurant owners were open to a new approach.
When we became Enotria & Coe, my role evolved and I began working with larger business groups which brought a different dimension and focus. It was during the merger that I met John Graves, then London Sales Director, a friendly towering figure. I worked with him on some exciting new business, and he taught me how to dig into the commercial aspects of a deal. He left the company in 2016 to join Bibendum.
I kept in touch with John and over coffee one day I asked him about his new company, as the culture sounded very collaborative, so when the position for my current role came up, I couldn’t overlook it. I was nervous about making the move, but I trusted John when he said the business was moving in the right direction and this, along with hearing that Michael Saunders was coming back to the helm, really drew me in.
I am just 12 years into wine, but I know the relationship will be lifelong. The pace of change is accelerating and many trends we are seeing – such as quality over quantity – are here for the long haul. As we navigate out of the pandemic, there will be more tough moments ahead but I remain excited about the opportunity to build and evolve. After all, reaching the best destinations often requires one hell of a journey.