Stuart Pigott (born 26 May 1960 in

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

) is a British

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

critic and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

who has lived in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

since 1993. Pigott mostly writes in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, and focuses on

German wine German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Ancient Rome, Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhine ...

. He writes for the specialist magazines ''Feinschmecker'' and ''Weingourmet'' as well as the Sunday edition of the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

''.

Biography

Between 1979 and 1986, Pigott studied various art-related subjects off and on at Goldsmiths College of Art, St. Martins School of Art and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

. He ended up with a master's degree in the History of Culture. During his studies he started as a wine writer, and published his first piece in ''

Decanter A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid (such as wine) which may contain sediment. Decanters, which have a varied shape and design, have been traditionally made from glass or crystal. Their volume is usually equ ...

'' magazine in 1984. Pigott moved to Berlin with his wife,

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in fin ...

and later food writer Ursula Heinzelmann, in late 1993 and published his first German-language book in 1994. From early on, he joined fellow British wine writer Hugh Johnson in taking a critical view towards the mass production mentality that prevailed in parts of the German wine industry, and thus became popular with more quality-oriented producers. Taking his inspiration from Hunter S. Thompson and

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

, Pigott has in recent years tried to emulate the style of Gonzo journalism in the wine area. He has published a number of free educational wine videos in the "Gonzo" style on the Internet. In the semester 2008/2009 he took lessons at the University of Applied Sciences in Geisenheim comprising the

Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute The Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute was founded in 1872 and is located in the town of Geisenheim, in Germany's Rheingau region. In 1876 Swiss-born professor Hermann Müller joined the institute, where he developed his namesake grape variety M ...

Stuart Pigott's five commandments

As part of his educational material, Pigott uses the following five commandments on wine:, accessed on 16 March 2008 # A wine is as good or bad as it tastes and smells to you. # For wine, there is no connection between price and quality. # Wine is not nearly so complicated or delicate as generally assumed. # There are no wrong words to describe wine. # There is only one error that is possible to make in connection with wine: to ruin other people's pleasure.

References

External links

Stuart Pigott official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigott, Stuart 1960 births Living people Wine critics British male journalists British expatriates in Germany People from Orpington Journalists from Berlin Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung people

Biography

Stuart Pigott's five commandments

See also

References

External links