Matt Skinner, sommelier at Fifteen, Jamie Oliver's restaurant, is shaking up the wine world with his rock 'n' roll wine guru approach. He talks to Joe Breen
"I really wanted to make a subject that intimidates, or makes people feel uncomfortable, or is confusing, a little bit more accessible. The aim of Thirsty Work is to inspire a bit more passion or enthusiasm for a product that I'm really passionate about and that a lot of people would like to know a little more about. And that's a good thing."
For someone who opens his debut book with the dubious phrase, "Grapes rock!" and then continues in the same explosive vein, Matt Skinner is remarkably quiet-spoken and thoughtful. He is not your average image of a sommelier, all starched shirt and pursed lips. But then, as someone drafted in from his native Melbourne by Jamie Oliver to manage the wine for Fifteen, his impressive restaurant project, he is hardly likely to be.
"The inspiration for writing the book was the students I teach at Fifteen, so I kind of wrote it the way I talk to them and teach them about wine. It was written with them in mind, but at the same time the book is for anyone, young or old, who is interested in wine but doesn't want all that flowery language and old information-heavy stuff that has been done before."
That's a tad optimistic. The tousled hair, informal, happy tone and speedy, street-smart language, plus frequent television appearances and a love of adventure sports, sets him up to be the first rock 'n' roll wine guru. But, behind the fast phrases and earnest man-of-the-people facade lurks a young man who knows far more than he shows, and has worked hard to get where he is. It is not surprising that Oliver asked him to join Fifteen, because they are very similar in their mix of boyish enthusiasm and hard-headed knowledge.
As much as Oliver knows how to cook, Skinner knows his wines. And Skinner has huge respect for the Essex lad. "What you see with Jamie is what you get. He's a man of his word, incredibly loyal. He's quite inspirational to watch because he doesn't have any peaks and troughs. He's not really a diva so to speak, he's very stable . . . he's got an incredible work ethic which is pretty infectious - most of the kids get a huge amount of inspiration from him."
The "kids" are the students, the first batch of whom were the subject of a memorable television documentary a few years back. Skinner says that the restaurant is on its fourth rotation. "Graduation was just a few weeks ago and it is one of the best days of the year. I sit on the panel that interviews them at the beginning, and you see these guys 12 months down the track and it is phenomenal how much they they've grown in self-confidence and experience. It's amazing."
Skinner's journey into the world of wine began somewhat fortuitously when he got a job in a wine shop during his gap year in 1992. His interest deepened when his boss offered him the choice of learning or leaving. He chose the former, but later left for a bigger company, which furthered his education. Eventually, he ended up as wine buyer for a major chain of restaurants, along the way winning a wine education fellowship which provided him with a six-week all-expenses paid tour of Europe's great vineyards.
"So I got to visit France and Spain and Italy and met all my wine heroes, which was awesome. Pretty much after I got back, that was in 2001, I met Jamie and we just hit it off. He was interested in food the way I was interested in wine . . . Fifteen, apart from being a dream job, was a chance for me to increase my education, because London is one of the most important wine markets in the world - we are spoilt for choice here."
Matt Skinner fans will also be spoilt for choice soon, as along with Thirsty Work, he has written The Juice, a guide to the best wines available on the high street, due out in about a month. The 100 wines are divided into four sections. The first 25 are in a self-explanatory section called Skint; the second is titled Brownie Points, for wines to impress; the third is TV Dinners - wines to go with take-away food and finally, Bling - wines that you drink when money is no object, or someone else is paying.
Behind all this licence for fun, Skinner is very sharp on the role wine enjoys in both cultural and industrial circles. "It was quite important for me that the photographer I used, Chris Terry, didn't come from like a wine background and that he didn't know the subject at all. What he's brilliant at is capturing people; he's like a reportage photographer who does a lot of portrait work by day and I wanted him to come in and not get clichéd images but see the industry for what it is, and see the people and see how it unfolds. And I think he has done that really well. "
And even though Thirsty Work is an unashamedly basic introduction to wine - some "experts" will wince at the phonetic interpretations of grape names such as "pee-no- nwar" - there is an underlying theme of honouring all those involved, not just the celebrated winemakers.
"Yes, the underlying message that runs through the book is that wine is about people, and for me, when I think about my friends and how they buy wine and how they think about wine, they probably don't appreciate anybody further on than the person they are handing their money to at the counter. I just thought, there are so many unsung heroes in this industry, whether they drive a tractor, or a forklift around the winery and answer the phone and take orders for wine. There are so many different roles within our industry, and I thought it was really important that they were brought to light."
He is equally noncommittal about the effects of globalisation on the industry. How can we stop everybody from just making Cabernet Sauvignon in the same fruity, easy-drinking style? "It's a tough one. I don't know how we stop the homogenisation of wine. But as consumers get better educated and become more comfortable with wine, their tastes change. And hopefully that's where the homogenised style of wine - which is kind of fruit-driven, very aromatic and concentrated - might lose a little bit of ground as people look for different styles, different flavours, different textures. And you can't get that from mass-produced stuff."
Though he has lots of competing interests, including his own website, being wine editor of jamieoliver.com, writing for Decanter and other publications plus fitting in time for his wife and adventure sports, Skinner continues to work four days a week in Fifteen.
So as London's funkiest sommelier, as the Guardian recently described him, how does he define the role of the sommelier? "For a long time there has been a bit of a stereotype: stuffy. It can be intimidating to ask advice from a sommelier. But I think the role of the modern sommelier is to be committed and serious about wine, but in a manner that is relaxed and informative."
You can say much the same about Matt Skinner.
Thirsty Work is published by Mitchell Beazley (£17.99). The Juice - 100 wines you should be drinking will be published by Mitchell Beazley next month (£7.99)