Behind the vine

Abbie Roden - amie - London

When do you think you fell in love with wine, enough to make a career of it?

When I fell in love with my fiancé, Will Sandbach (@will_sandy_). Honestly though, Will's family is the Oxford Wine Company, so that is what got me interested in wine. Will is definitely the wine expert and I am more the creative and the marketer.

What story does your wine tell?

amie tells many stories, especially the stories of a) the good coming out of the bad and b) friendship.

The idea for amie was born out of lockdown, and it has been such a joy to see it grow over the last (not-so-amazing) year. We give £1 per bottle sold to charity: water - a non-profit that Will and I care a lot about - so that collectively we can #drinkamie, and give water. When brainstorming ideas for amie, the thing that we craved the most was to see our friends. Since it was born during lockdown, we wanted the name to be meaningful of the current situation, and to symbolize friendship.

What misconceptions about wine do you think people should forget?

Wine is a huge world and you can get as nerdy as you like. My knowledge scratches the surface. I think it is best to keep asking questions, because people who do know a lot about wine love to share their knowledge. Pop into any independent wine merchant and you'll see! Trial and error is the best way to find what you like and don't like.

A big misconception I would say is that good wine is always expensive. There are incredible wines from £10-£20. It doesn't matter what the price is, if you like it, drink it!

What great things about wine do you think people should remember?

That it's to be enjoyed! Don't overthink it or take it too seriously.

What is a piece of advice you would give to a woman interested in breaking into the wine world?

Network! My advice for women wanting to break into any industry is to network. I can safely say that I would never be where I'm at today if I hadn't networked, reached out to strangers, and kept in touch with people who I've met along the way.

Where can women find your wine?

On our site, and @drinkamie on Instagram

Who is a women in wine you think everyone should know about?

Matilde Gentili, the winemaker at Rocca di Montemassi, is one of the youngest female winemakers in Italy. We got to meet her last August and it was incredible to see someone so young being so successful. I'm also obsessed with Christine from Ankida Ridge, one of the first vineyards we visited for VIND, our new wine tourism platform. When you ask Christine how she learned about winemaking, she says she has 5 steps: consultants, books, conferences, colleagues and most importantly, doing it.