Pictured above: Max Lalondrelle, Managing Director of Fine Wine at Berry Bros. & Rudd

Where Max Lalondrelle buys, others follow. Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Managing Director of Fine Wine, who has been with the company for 24 years, is widely recognised as one of the industry's leading figures, with the power to place a producer on the international fine wine stage. When he is not at Berry Bros. & Rudd's Basingstoke or St James's offices, he can be found on the golf course - his sacred Friday pastime.

Wine Lister: Tell us about your current "house wine".

Max Lalondrelle: Around 20% of my house wines come from the BB&R Own Selection, mainly because I know them well and they are very good examples of the different regions. The rest is made up of wines I normally buy En Primeur or on release, and I drink them when they reach around five to ten years old. I buy a lot of bottles priced between £15 and £20: Burgundy, Germany, Loire, and Bordeaux on release - it's almost always the same producers! I would buy the 2023 now to drink in 2028/2032, and I am currently drinking a range of 2017 to 2020. I feel this is the best way to get top wine at affordable prices.

WL: What do you drink when you're not drinking wine?

ML: Although I'm from an Armagnac family, I don't drink any spirits! I am also gluten intolerant, so beer isn’t an option. If I'm in a pub, the only option is cider, but this only works well in the UK - France has top ciders but rarely in bars. If there is no cider, then I’ll order a soft drink.

WL: What does "fine wine" mean to you?

ML: Fine wine for me has to be worthy of ageing; it doesn't have to be expensive or rare, but it does have to have the potential to age and to excite. If it makes you think when you drink it, if it has some complexity and evolves in the glass, then it is most probably a fine wine.

WL: The best restaurant wine list in London?

ML: I don’t live in London so I don’t tend to explore very much, but my go-to places for 100% reliability and wine-friendly fine dining are Trinity and Le Colombier (Chelsea). I always go to places where I can bring my own wine, so the wine list isn’t my criteria of choice. But if I had to choose one for its list, then it would be Noble Rot!

WL: What emerging region are you most excited about?

ML: The Loire, without a doubt. I have spent the past five years driving around the region and helping to create a top selection of producers from there. There is a long way to go yet, but there is some incredible potential in the Loire. It is a vast and complex region so there is a lot to explore which might be complicated for consumers, but the diversity is what makes it fun. It reminds me of Burgundy 30 years ago, when the wines were hard to sell, the properties were underfunded, but the potential was there.

WL: What is your standing on natural wine?

ML: Life is too short for natural wines! Well almost, I have had some interesting natural wines, but interesting isn’t good enough to get me excited.

WL: Your go-to wine shop in London?

ML: Well, I only buy from one of them: BB&R, for obvious reasons!

WL: If you could share a glass of wine with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you drink?

ML: As I advance in age, I very much enjoy drinking wines with the older generation while listening to their stories. I was recently invited for lunch by Christopher Berry Green, former Chairman of BB&R and a member of the Berry family. He is now 93 years old and was regaling me with wine stories from the 60s and 70s about Anthony Barton and the gang when he was buying Bordeaux. We did a comparative tasting of the last vintage of BB&R Good Ordinary Claret that he purchased for the business - 1991 - versus my last vintage, 2020. I could have stayed there for hours on end. But to answer the question, a bottle of Vin de Constance with Napoleon would be quite cool!

WL: If you weren't working in wine, what would you be doing?

ML: Cars are my other passion, so running a classic car business would have been my alternative career.

WL: To finish, can you share with our readers one producer to watch?

ML: Domaine Arnaud Lambert in Saumur.