Anthony Foster has been in the Wine trade for over forty years. In 1974, he became a Master of Wine, passing the most arduous four day tasting and theoretical qualification in the industry. In 1987 he was Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine and was largely responsible for making the qualification international.
Immediately after graduating from the Sorbonne in Paris, he joined the Wine Trade as a trainee working for Calvet in Bordeaux. It is here he acquired a passion for the wines of this region, and an in depth knowledge of a great number of not only the well-known Grand Cru vineyards, but also the lesser known properties, or petits chateaux, where extraordinary quality can be found.
He founded his own company, Bonhote Foster Limited in 1975, and was bought out in 1981 by Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. He was subsequently made managing director of Christopher and Company, Royal Warrant holders. In 1986 Antinori in Florence headhunted him to become managing director of their UK arm, Belloni. After Antinori sold their interest in Belloni in the early nineties, Anthony continued to act as a consultant for various bodies on fruit selection and wine making techniques, as well as wine marketing in the UK and US. Amongst other projects, he researched and advised a number of Slovenian Wine producers on how to market their wines in Europe. He created a Burgundy importing company in the US - Foster Flynt Selections - with DC Flynt MW. In 1998 Anthony purchased Bonhote Foster Limited back from S&N. In recent years he has spent considerable time working with Club Claret both in Bordeaux and the States. He researches the famous chateaux, and almost more importantly seeks out petits chateaux for Wine.com. He writes about Bordeaux on this site and has also produced videos for Wine.com.He contributes regularly to the wine blog.
He spends considerable time in South America, where he is senior wine adviser to a large vineyard and winery in San Rafael. Mendoza. Anthony is an acknowledged wine taster. He judges around the world, most notably France, Italy, Australia and the UK. In France he has participated in a number of "Tastevinage" panels and in Italy he has been a frequent judge at the Banco d'Assagio in Perugia. In Australia he is one of a handful of international judges and he is frequently invited to judge in both Canberra and Hobart. In the UK, Anthony chairs and judges on a number of tasting panels, in particular the Wine and Spirit Competition. He is fluent in French…and English |
