ABOUT FIRST PRESS
ABOUT FIRST PRESS
Hi there, hey, hello. I’m Sophie Thorpe, a London-based wine writer – and the author behind First Press.
Wine geek.
Grammar fiend.
Lover of all things delicious.
I own more books than I can read, obsessively buy wine beyond my means and spend a worrying proportion of my salary on food.
By day, I work as Group Campaigns + Editorial Manager at FINE+RARE, where – among other things – I look after their Editorial section. I previously spent nearly seven years doing a similar sort of thing at Berry Bros. & Rudd. In 2019, I started working towards the Master of Wine, hoping to continue to uncork bottles under the premise of “studying”.
Alongside my 9-to-5, I try to squeeze in as much other writing as I can. I have been published on Club Oenologique, jancisrobinson.com, twice shortlisted for the Emerging category at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writing Awards (2017 and '18) and was awarded the Guild of Food Writers Drinks Writing Award (2021).
But what is First Press?
This site is a combination of things, all of which are rather selfish. It’s an excuse for me to tell more stories, visit more producers, open a few more bottles, and tick restaurants off my wish-list – essentially, to write about the things I like. But I also hope that you’ll like them too, or at least like reading about them.
If you want tips on weekday wines, recommendations under £5 a bottle and supermarket selections: you’re in the wrong place. I’m interested in the stories behind a wine, the character of a place and the personalities involved. I’m hoping to capture just a little of that here.
It also acts as an online portfolio, pointing to everything I’ve written.
Of course, any and all opinions expressed here are wholly my own.
What do you think?
If you like what I’m doing, think I’m missing a trick or you’d like to commission me to write something elsewhere, please drop me a line