What I’ve learned: Tim Triptree MW, international director of Wines & Spirits

Infrequent tastings of extraordinary wines far outweigh regular tastings of mediocre wines. Contrary to what people think, I don’t spend most of my time at work drinking wine. I’m usually behind my desk looking at spreadsheets, or in a warehouse authenticating bottles. It’s not so glamorous. Having said that, when I do get to taste, it’s usually pretty spectacular stuff that others would dream of tasting, so I can’t complain.

Working in the wine trade never crossed my mind until I was in my mid-twenties. I took a break from a career in investment banking and moved to Mendoza in Argentina to study Spanish. Fortuitously, it happened to be the country’s main wine-producing region, and I started drinking some nice Malbecs. I visited a few wineries, then had the idea I’d like to work in the industry, so I did a sommelier course there. Back in the UK, I enrolled on an MBA in wine business management.

More people have been into space than have qualified as a Master of Wine. In 2018, I became one of just 512 people ever to earn the distinction since 1953, when the qualification began. The process includes passing five exams on topics from viticulture to wine business, and writing a 10,000-word research paper.

Then there is the blind-tasting component, comprising three sessions of 12 wines. For each anonymous glass, you’re asked to identify specific elements such as the grape variety, the region of the vineyard, the year of the vintage and the quality of the wine. And for every answer, you have to justify your reasoning, commenting on things like acidity and tannin levels, finish and aromatics. For that section, I enlisted a sports psychologist to help me perform better under pressure.

Crucial to being a successful wine taster is memory. I trained my senses with scent bottles containing specific fragrances. Each one helped me to recognise and remember the aromas of different grape varieties, regions and so on. Sadly, I don’t have my nose insured, but I do avoid anything spicy or overpowering prior to a tasting session.

Wine-speak is constantly evolving. I picked it up from studying books and attending tastings, but you always need to update your vocabulary with new terms. ‘Minerality’ is a fairly recent tasting note. It means the wine has a flinty, saline or chalky character, like licking a wet stone.

I’m a liveryman of the Vintners’ Company. It’s one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London and received its first charter in 1363. Along with the Dyers’ Company — and besides the King — the Vintners is the only company with a right to own swans. Each July, members of the Vintners accompany His Majesty’s Swan Marker along the Thames in small boats for the annual Swan Upping procession, when the birds are counted and checked over.

Christie’s was the first auction house to have a standalone wine department. It was founded by Michael Broadbent MW in 1966. He was still involved here when I joined in 2005. He was a legendary taster, and his books on vintage wine are still a reference point in the industry. I started as maternity cover, then worked my way up. In 2013, I was assigned to Christie’s in Hong Kong for four years, when the interest in fine wines was exploding in Asia.

The oldest, and possibly rarest, wine I’ve ever drunk was from 1795. It was a Terrantez Madeira, opened as part of a tasting session at Christie’s. Madeira wines have high levels of mouthwatering acidity that perfectly balances the residual sweetness.

There are still a few ‘grail’ wines I’d love to try. Romanée-Conti 1945 and Château d’Yquem 1921 are both legendary. Dom Pérignon champagne from the first ever vintage in 1921 would be fun to drink, but I haven’t seen it in anyone’s collection since we sold a pair of bottles in 2004, so it could be all gone.

I’d also love to try a magnum of Lafite Rothschild 1870 from Glamis Castle in Scotland. Michael Broadbent MW said it was the best wine he had ever tasted. By the time Christie’s first sold the collection, in 1971, it had been left to age untouched for almost a century in the castle’s cool cellar. We last sold one in 2002, and maybe never again. Wine also tends to age more slowly in larger formats, making it fresher and more youthful.

Discovery moments don’t happen that often in my department, because most collectors keep an inventory of their wines. But when they do, it’s magic. A few years ago, my colleagues Noah May and Charlotte Sère went to see a couple who had buried their wine collection deep inside an old air-raid shelter under the end of their garden in England’s South Downs. They quit drinking and forgot about it for several decades, until they came to sell the house. They reached out to Christie’s to ask if it was worth anything. For the subsequent cellar pack, after climbing through dense undergrowth, we discovered and extracted a trove of iconic wines, including 1971 Romanée-Conti and 1945 Mouton Rothschild. The collection made more than £2 million at auction.

Some clients like to keep their cards close to their chest, which can make my job a little more tense. In 2018, we auctioned a bottle of The Macallan whisky from 1926, which had a unique label created by the artist Michael Dillon. I’d taken a potential buyer for lunch the day before the sale, but he told me he wasn’t really interested. It wasn’t until I saw him walk into the auction that I knew something special was about to happen. The Macallan became the first ever whisky to sell for seven figures, achieving £1.2 million.

Climate change is a very real concern for my industry. Extremes of weather, from warming summers to frosts, mildew and hailstorms, are all having a huge impact. In 2016, Montrachet, the most iconic and expensive white Burgundy vineyard, had a harvest decimated by spring frost. Seven producers had to join forces just to have enough grapes to fill two barrels. The industry is taking steps to adapt to it, though, and sustainability is a big thing now, thankfully — from reducing the use of pesticides to making bottles from thinner glass so that they are more lightweight.

At home, I pair what I drink with the seasons, food and company. I enjoy a glass of dry sherry as an aperitif — a chilled Fino or Manzanilla — or a Riesling from Alsace, Austria or Germany. Sometimes I’ll reach for a white Burgundy, such as Chablis or a Puligny-Montrachet. If it’s red, I usually go to matured Rioja from Spain or a decent Bordeaux or Burgundy. There is so much variety, it pays to not be loyal.

Fine and Rare Wines & Spirits Online: London Edition is live for bidding from 15 to 29 April 2025, alongside Timeless Excellence: The Pristine Wine Collection of Jörg G. Bucherer, bidding from 16 to 30 April

67 Pall Mall is the world’s first group of private members’ clubs founded by wine lovers, for wine lovers. Having opened its first club in St James’s, London, in 2015, it now also has locations in Verbier and Singapore, and a resident membership in Hong Kong, with three further clubs opening soon in Melbourne, Bordeaux and Beaune