Friday 5 October 2012

sneaky preview of my new business...


Thomson & Scott

Beautifully crafted wines and champagnes in collaboration with talented artists and photographers

Thomson & Scott search out beautifully crafted wines and champagnes.  In their exclusive collaborations with artists and photographers, the limited edition signed prints on the boxes perfectly complement the artisan wine. 

Amanda Thomson and Michael Scott spend months of the year meeting wine makers and tasting, tasting, tasting.  Their attention to detail is obsessional, so you can trust that whatever wine they bring you, the quality will not be in question. And the art simply enhances the drinking experience.

The pair hunt down stylish, innovative artists with shared high-end sensibilities; sensibilities shared not just with the wine makers, but importantly, with Amanda and Michael too. 

Originally from Houston, Texas, Michael Scott has had an international upbringing, schooled in Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam. His initial love of wine was a happy accident. While in Singapore for a tax internship, he became interested in fine French wine through friends in the trade. This led him to study French language and more recently, Wine and Management in Paris, where he met his business partner, Amanda Thomson in 2011. Their one year Diploma at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris was taught in French and English under highly esteemed French wine professional, Franck Ramage.

Amanda Thomson is an English BBC journalist who worked for many years as an arts broadcaster. Her work in the film industry, specifically at the Cannes Film Festival, led to her developing a keen interest in champagne and later, wine. Amanda saw her move to Paris to study wine as an extension of her arts career, intertwining gastronomy and the arts world.

Amanda and Michael are strong believers in personal connections and while the internet is important to their business, ultimately they encourage all interested buyers to meet with them, talk with the wine makers and artists at their launches, and fall in love, not just with the wine itself, but also the story behind it, which will ultimately set it apart from being just another fine wine.

Thomson and Scott only deal with small quantities of wine and champagne, fuelled in essence by their choice of producer, who typically may make only a few thousand of each bottle. The French wine business remains – at least from a UK perspective – very traditional. Putting aside the wine as futures market, artisan producers have such small allocations of their wines that they can afford to be selective about who they sell to. This is where relationships become all important and Amanda and Michael operate on exactly the same premise.

To find out more about Thomson & Scott  and discuss their future tastings, please contact; Amanda amanda@thomsonandscott.com or Michael@thomsonandscott.com


Monday 4 June 2012

I have graduated!

Finally. I have just completed a year's intense study in wine and now hold a diploma from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. I can come up for air.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

At last...

"I really love you" she said. "Is that the champagne talking?" he asked. "No", she laughed, "That's me talking to the champagne".

The trip I've waited all my life for. With the above mantra, I cannot wait to visit legendary champagne house, Krug and Cristal's Roederer. And finally. Spring has sprung in Paris. What's not to love?

Monday 6 February 2012

Lost in translation...

Couldn't resist Le Kooples black/sheepskin jacket - half price in the sale. Been below freezing here with snow yesterday and I start shooting my French wine documentary pilot tomorrow so need to be cosy. Being pulled in two directions with the plan to return to the UK in the Summer, yet the feeling that our Paris relationship isn't yet over. We went to our first all-French dinner party at the weekend and I was reminded how fast Parisiens speak to each other. Felt like watching a fast mens' singles tennis final, with my head going one way then the other, trying to follow the conversation. Managed to drop myself in it by saying we lived in the apartment with our friends, rather than the same apartment building. There are so many conversational pitfalls in translation. Happy to provide laughs. Isn't that what the English are good at?

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Officially a wine snob.

A lovely hotel manager friend always struggles to drink wine in a place where the list isn't up to scratch, the glasses aren't clean enough and/or the wine serving temperature isn't quite right. I used to think that was a snobbish approach. And now, confession time; that's me. HB and I left a place the other night without eating, right after our aperitifs, when it was the sommelier's night off (on a Saturday night. Really?!) and the hot looking but useless hostesses couldn't find our reservation and left us waiting far too long. Boys. Surely even for you, it's pointless having pretty girl serve you if she's awful at her job? Hmmm. Don't answer that.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Bonne Anée. This time two years ago...

It was this time a whole two years ago we arrived here in Paris. This year, I'm just back from New York. Still jet lagged. Honestly, need a holiday to recover but that's a story for another time. Dinner at the Waverly Inn felt like stepping slam into the Big Apple scene when the restaurant's owner, Graydon Carter (Vanity Fair's Editor),  moved tables for legendary film producer, Harvey Weinstein's party right across from us. Made friends with the fabulous sommelier there who was happy to talk US wine with me - my knowledge at present is primarily with French. Found out mid trip that a bikini designer had been drowned by her boyfriend in our luxurious bath in my cool hotel room, which, combined with time difference didn't help with my sleeping either. Anyway, back in the 7th arrondissement and I have a big Burgundy test looming for my wine diploma so since it's midnight, guess it's cram time. Bonne Année.