Gerald Asher

Gerald Albert Asher (born 18 August 1932) is an English wine personality based since 1974 in San Francisco, California.

Initially a wine merchant and importer, today, he is a wine writer.

Gerald Asher was born in London in 1932.

The family moved to rural Essex at the onset of the Blitz, and Asher was partly raised there, attending Westcliff High School for Boys in Westcliff-on-Sea.

Born in London and raised partly in rural Essex because of the Blitz, Asher's career in wine began in 1950, when he took a part-time job at a wine retailer in London's Shepherd Market.

Asher entered the wine industry in 1950, at the age of 18, when he took a part-time job assisting a wine retailer in Shepherd Market, between Curzon Street and Piccadilly in Mayfair, Central London.

Within a year he had taken a full-time position with a small wine distributor, and by 1952 he was engaged by Blumenthal & Co, a major wine importer.

Sponsored by Blumenthal, he attended tastings and lectures held by the Wine Trade Club at the Worshipful Company of Vintners in London, and in 1953 a scholarship allowed him to spend time working and studying in Jerez, the Spanish region that produces Sherry.

Further such scholarships over the next two years despatched Asher to Burgundy in eastern France, then the Rheingau wine region in West Germany.

He founded his own merchant house, Asher, Storey, and Co, in 1955 to import rare and lesser-known French wines to Britain.

In 1955, aged 23, Asher founded his own London merchant house, Asher, Storey and Co, to import rare and lesser-known French wines to Britain.

The new firm was regarded as ground-breaking, and was for a long time unique in the British market.

He writes that he had "a Topsy-turvy introduction to California wine," having never tasted any before a 1967 visit, but he soon began championing it, organising the annual California Vintners Barrel Tasting Dinner along with Paul Kovi and Tom Margittai of New York's Four Seasons Restaurant.

Around this time he also became interested in California wine, which he had first encountered during his first visit to San Francisco in 1967.

He writes that he had "a Topsy-turvy introduction to California wine", having never tasted any before his 1967 visit, but soon came to regard it as on a par with that from France.

Surprised that wine from California was, in his own words, "more exotically rare in New York than many European" wines, he hit upon the idea of holding an annual tasting of California wine in New York, using as models the Paulée de Meursault tasting of Burgundy wine and its grander cousin, the Paulée de Paris held at Taillevent, with "the same elegant context ... but with an American flavour".

Asher approached several Californian growers with this idea, but most were hesitant to take part.

By December 1969, The Observer was describing the company as "famous for its list of the lesser-known wines of France: wines from the Loire, and the Jura, from Provence and from Savoy."

Active until 1970, the firm was widely seen as ground-breaking for its introduction to the British market of several previously obscure wines that proceeded to become popular.

In 1971, Asher relocated to New York to take up a senior position at Austin, Nichols, and Co, which imported Bordeaux-classed wines to the United States.

The next year he also became wine editor at Gourmet magazine, a post he would hold for the next three decades, writing the "Wine Journal" column, which eventually became monthly.

Asher wound up Asher, Storey in 1971, when he moved to New York City to become vice-president and National Wine Sales Manager at Austin, Nichols and Co, perhaps better known as the distiller of Wild Turkey bourbon whiskey, but also an American importer of Bordeaux-classed wines from France.

He joined the French wine committee of the U.S. National Association of Wine Importers, and became chairman of the Champagne Importers' Association.

In 1972, he was invited by Jane Montant of Gourmet magazine to start contributing essays on a periodical basis as the journal's Wine Editor, a role he would hold for the next three decades.

Two years later, he was awarded the Mérite agricole by the government of France for his contributions to French agriculture.

In 1974, he received the Mérite agricole from the French government for his contributions to French agriculture.

He moved the same year to San Francisco, where he became head of the Monterey Wine Company.

Asher moved to San Francisco in 1974 to head the Monterey Wine Company, a joint venture between the McKesson Corporation and the McFarlane family to market The Monterey Vineyard's wines.

The barrel tasting, which started in 1976, played an important role in building the image and understanding of California wines on the East Coast of the United States and, over the next decade, became seen by critics as the wine event of the year.

He retained this role until 1976.

Asher started the Mosswood Wine Company in 1978 within the McKesson Corporation and headed it until 1987 when McKesson sold off its interests in wine and spirits to concentrate on pharmaceuticals.

Asher took early retirement to focus solely on his wine writing, which he continues today.

A 1983 Punch retrospective described its formation as "a breeze of change through the wine trade here [in Britain] and the trade of writing about wine."

Many of the wines the firm introduced to British consumers, including Beaumes de Venises, Arbois, Bandol, Chateau Grillet, Cahors and others, were considered utterly unknown when the company began, but soon became well known and popular.

He retained the post of wine editor at Gourmet until 2002, and thereafter contributed a selection of wines to each issue until the magazine discontinued in 2009.

He was inducted into the California Vintners' Hall of Fame by the Culinary Institute of America in 2009.

Many of his wine essays from Gourmet have been republished in book form; five volumes of these columns have been published, most recently A Carafé of Red in 2012.

Asher's writing and knowledge of wine are both acclaimed, with British wine critic Jancis Robinson calling him "America's most elegant wine writer".

James Beard, an American chef and food writer, says Asher's writing "makes one feel that one is sitting in a room with Gerald, enjoying his ... awesome knowledge and expertise in the world of wine."

Asher has received many accolades for his writing and work with wine during his life.