Oz Clarke

One of the world's leading wine experts, best selling author and television presenter Oz Clarke has become an extremely popular after-dinner speaker at global wine tasting and alcohol industry events. Clarke's passion stems right from his time at Oxford University where he spent several years as the captain of the University's Wine Tasting Team this is what kick-started his career today. His initial profession was acting, singing and presenting which saw him appear on a variety of West End shows including Sweeney Todd and The Mitford Girls. Clarke became notorious within the acting industry for his love and expertise of wine so when a wine expert dropped out of BBC's Food and Drink series, Clarke's career as a wine connoisseur and television presenter finally kicked off.

Since the mid-1990's Clarke has had a huge presence across British broadcasting as a television and radio presenter, guest expert and host which has seen him host his own show and work alongside some big names, From being The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Express's first-ever wine writer to hosting an array of wine shows alongside James May and Hugh Dennis. The Wine Programme saw Clarke and May awarded with the TRIC (Television and Radio Industries Club) TV Arts/Documentary Programme of the Year, the International Wine Challenge Personality of the Year 
Award and the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Wine Literature.

As one of the top wine connoisseurs, he has won all the major wine writing awards in both the US and UK, including the Glenfiddich (three times), André Simon, Louis Roederer, Wine Guild (three times), James Beard, Julia Child, World Food Media and Lanson (five times) awards. 1999 saw his contributions to wine communication and education awarded with the Lanson Special Millennium Award. By 2006 he had won the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition and International Drinks Communicator of the Year Award. As a highly regarded wine writer, 2009 saw him win the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Award for International Wine Book of the Year. To top off his variety of achievements he has also been created an Officier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole by the French government for services to French agriculture.

Clarke is no stranger to speaking at big events, in 2001 he was a keynote speaker at the world's largest consumer wine event, the Boston Wine Expo. He also has experience keynote speaking at both the Wine Experience in New York and the California Wine Experience in San Francisco. Clarke is a popular choice due to his extensive and accessible knowledge combined with his no-nonsense approach and makes for an excellent addition to any event within the drinks industry.