VDP: Where and how did you get the wine bug?

Byron Catechis: I was first introduced to wine while I was attending my hotel school in Switzerland and the interest was extended while working as a food and beverage specialist during my Hotel, Restaurant and Catering career. Since 2005 when I first started on my own, I have consecrated myself to teaching others about wine and spirits as well as sharing the interest and also joy of alcoholic beverages with others.

VDP: Your first encounter with German wines?

Byron Catechis: Even though I had been working and was exposed to the wine regions around the world from the very start of my career, it was really while working in Germany that I really discovered all the facets of German wine as well as the possibilities.

VDP: What is your favourite story to tell about German/VDP.wine – did you have highly emotional experience with our wines / producers?

Byron Catechis: There are too many stories to talk about German wine that you will have to join one of our courses to find out more…

VDP: How many bottles of German wine/VDP.wines do you have in your cellar?

Byron Catechis: Depending on the time of the year, we can have around 100 to 150 bottles of wine in our cellars. I am afraid that at the time of writing (September) we have fewer bottles as we will need to order more wine from Germany again.

VDP: What is your favourite vineyard in Germany – and why?

Byron Catechis: As a fan of German wine, I do not have a personal preference for any one region or winemaker. All regions and winemakers have something special which can be represented in their bottle and is to be enjoyed with friends around the table.

VDP: If it comes to German grape varieties, what is your favourite? Riesling, Spätburgunder or other?

Byron Catechis: We have recently organised a food and wine matching event and we included Riesling and Lemberger and both grape varieties came up on top of the 10-odd wines we tasted during the day both on their own and with each of the food items.