PARK VINTNERS - Key Persons

Alex grew up in Kent and spent time as a student in both Bristol and Florence. Given the importance of both cities to the wine trade, and the fact that he is unable to remember a time in his life when there was no wine around, it was perhaps inevitable that he ended up running London's oldest wine bar. Itchy feet prevailed, however, and before you could even say "Barossa Valley" he found himself crouched over, wielding the secateurs for Banrock Station down under. A return to the UK found him switching to retail where he ran a selection of Oddbins branches and it was during this time that his and Wayne's paths first crossed.

After working in the city for about 100 years, Wayne decided early on in the millennium that it was time to get a 'real' job. All those years of sumptuous corporate lunches had led to a highly developed fascination with fine wine and, more importantly, the fine foods to match them.He further enhanced his skills by running the fine wine department at Oddbins' flagship store in Battersea for five years. At Wines of the World he took joint responsibility for sourcing the delicious wines that filled the shelves. In this time he also undertook many tutored tastings and wine fairs that were all phenomenally well attended. A remarkably calm and tranquil individual, keen cyclist, proficient runner, global traveller and purveyor of awful jokes, Wayne has all of the attributes required to be able to work alongside Alex.