"I wasn't going to start with this statement, but hey why not – Im all about cross-dressing when it comes to wine,” says Amelia Singer, with a glint in her eye.
What she means is that wine is best served with lifes other great enhancers – like art, music, and food. That might sound obvious and even slightly pretentious, but stuffy is exactly what Singer is not.
This vivacious entrepreneur is not afraid to mix popular culture with the oft-regarded posh world of wine – a kind of cross-pollination of creative ideas. And most importantly, she makes it really fun.
Message in a bottle
Take an event in LA earlier this year when Singer was asked to interpret Kanye Wests music through Spanish wine. Most of us would probably balk at the prospect of curating something so utterly bonkers, but not Singer.
“People walked into this liberal, hippy-dippy art gallery in Laguna Beach and they didnt know what the frick was going on,” she laughs.
This quick-witted wine expert tells me that it was about making people think about the sound, the genre, even the texture of the music – and linking that to wine.
“This made me appreciate Kanye in a whole new way – I got into his music from a kind of cerebral perspective, as a producer.”
And thats exactly the point: Singer wants wine to amplify art or conversation, and vice versa – like a couple who bring out the best in each other. So take classic literature, modern art, or opera, and she will link the wine to ideas, themes, and characters.
“Every night is so different; its a stimulating way to engage with wine and other industries. Theres all this talk about disruption, but rather than being scared of that, I think its awesome that all these barriers are breaking down, and theres more room for collaboration.”
Singers business, called Amelias Wine, has four strings to its bow: she hosts private and corporate wine-tasting events, has writing gigs for the likes of Waitrose Magazine and the Wine Institute, is a consultant for bars and restaurants, and also makes regular appearances on TV – presenting programmes like the Wine Show.
This loquacious businesswoman might not take herself too seriously, but shes certainly serious when it comes to learning about wine – she has various wine qualifications under her belt, and has even worked in vineyards to understand grapes from the roots up.
But while she ticks all the right boxes for being a sommelier, shes set on subverting the fuddy-duddy connotations around wine-tasting.
On the grapevine
Nowadays, city folk dont just want to dine at a fancy restaurant – they want an experience, something kooky and memorable.
But while the concept of pop-ups and immersive dining experiences has mushroomed in the last few years, Singer still hosts one of the few wine-focused experiences in London.
Rather than the larger Kanye-style gig with over 100 people, Singer regularly hosts smaller private events, known as her Supper Clubs – where she made her name.
Guests essentially invite themselves to Singers home in Notting Hill, where she cooks for them (or nowadays she works with a chef to curate canapes), and takes the group – usually between 18 to 25 people – on a wine-tasting journey. Shes pretty much the ultimate host for a dinner party.
She admits that its a bit like interactive theatre, and having dabbled in the dramatic arts when she was younger, this wine connoisseur is no stranger to performing.
“Its like doing a play; you break down the fourth wall. Yes, some gags work and some wont, but the Supper Club tends to draw in like-minded people who really think outside the box. Now I think experiences are becoming more important – particularly if you can learn and better yourself. I definitely think wine should help you see culture in a different way.”
I ask her how she sets the right tone at these types of events, and to my surprise she belts out a long note, making me chuckle as I look around to see if anyone in the bar notices.
“Im a great believer in learning through entertainment, or what the Americans call edutainment. So thats always the focus for me: you can never patronise or lecture – even when Im working with people who are already wine experts, you have to make it fun. Its about knowing the audience and getting out of yourself. Yes, Im a conduit of wine, but it shouldnt be about me.”
Forbidden fruit
Bearing in mind Singers ambition to make wine accessible to the masses, its not surprising that she caught the attention of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who asked her to feature on his Drinks Tube channel.
“I really like how fun Jamie makes cooking; he makes people realise you can appreciate good food on a tight budget, and that theres no excuse for eating badly.”
Singer even jokes about doing a Jamie Oliver by bringing good wine to schools – but actually, there might be something in that. Maybe not taking booze into the classroom per se, but encouraging Brits to enjoy small amounts of alcohol from a young age might stem our unhealthy binge-drinking culture – a culture which is pretty much non-existent among our European cousins.
And Singer agrees that alcohol is like a forbidden fruit in the UK and the US, creating an all-or-nothing mentality.
“We are quite funny us Brits, because we didnt have our own wine-growing culture until recently, so we didnt really appreciate wine in the same way as other European countries.
“I spent a good part of my life growing up in California, and one of my earliest memories is having barbecues with my family – my dad had me tasting wine from the age of six, so hes quite European in that way.”
Accessibility certainly feeds into what Singer is trying to achieve, and she points to the strict dichotomy around wine. “People either think of it as elitist, or they get really drunk on cheap bottles from the supermarket. But why cant there be a middle way that makes wine fun?”
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