Meet Alex Aldersley-Hey, our new buyer

Hi Alex, we’re delighted to welcome you to Bordeaux Index! Starting at the beginning, tell us a bit about your background.

Pleasure to be here! I’m from just outside of London originally and have never really left, bar a year living in northern Italy. I live in South London with my wife and two adorable cats called Tybalt and Scout. I spend most of my free time cooking unnecessarily complicated things – I have, unfortunately, accidentally made my signature dish a Timpano. It’s a sort of mad giant pasta pie filled with cheese, salami, more pasta, and meatballs that usually takes a couple of days to make from scratch.

Having completed the WSET Diploma and being awarded the Vintners Scholarship, you must have a long-standing love of wine. What made you want to get into the wine industry?

Wine has always been a part of my home life but I didn’t really appreciate it fully until I got into the trade. Having studied History and Italian at University I was entirely unemployable but found a place working at Majestic. I fell in love with wine and really threw myself into it. I’m a big believer in the fact that wine tastes better the more you know about it, so I’ve always studied and explored where I can.

We understand that you’re a big lover of all things Italian. Where did your love of Italy and Italian wines stem from?

Honestly? The food. If I could only eat and drink the produce of one country for the rest of my life, it would by Italy. Art, language, scenery, architecture, literature, cinema all followed – but it started with food.

You have worked for a number of prominent wine merchants before joining us at Bordeaux Index. What has been a standout moment in your career so far?

Too many to count! Not too long ago I got to spend a few days driving around Napa and Sonoma visiting producers in a Ford Mustang, which was pretty spectacular.

We hear that you’re currently studying for your Master of Wine. How has that been going?

It’s hard. Very very hard. I’ve just sat my Stage Two Exams – the big horrible ones – for the first time. I find out my results in September, keeping all available digits crossed.

You must have enjoyed numerous wines, but can you pick just one favourite? Is there any reason that it stands out as a memorable wine?

I’ve been fortunate enough to drink some truly special wines. Honourable mentions include Chateau Margaux 1990, Querciabella Gran Selezione 2019, and Blandy’s Verdelho 1887. But there is one wine that will always have a special place in my heart: Jaboulet’s Hermitage La Chapelle 1990. An utterly sublime wine, the first I tasted that I might describe as ‘perfect’. I first tasted this while assessing a collection that had not been stored well, and among a lot of heartbreaking great wines that were simply undrinkable, this single bottle of one of the greatest Rhone reds ever made was absolutely pristine, and it just knocked me off my feet.

Do you have a wine that you have been drinking and enjoying recently? Perhaps you have a wine that you return to each summer?

I’m a big fan of serious Rosé in the summer – Tavel, top Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, or Clos Cibonne’s Provence, for example. There’s usually some Etna Bianco in the fridge too!

Have you made any exciting new wine discoveries recently that you think more people should know about?

Always! Trebbiano Abruzzese is absolutely mind-blowing. Not just Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, but Trebbiano Abruzzese, a particular heritage variety. It’s steely and pithy and got bags of character, it can stand up to the best dry Rieslings or Chablis when made well.

Across the pond I found some incredibly complex Grenache in and around Sonoma valley, it’s a really exciting variety for cooler climates in California.

As our new resident wine buyer, what one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to build their own collection of wine?

Be adventurous. The world of wine is incomprehensibly huge and getting bigger every day. There has never been a better time to try something new – it might be your next favourite wine.

To finish, if you could open a bottle of anything right now, what would you choose and why?

Champagne! Preferably an older Pinot Noir-heavy blend, from magnum. There’s never a bad time for bubbles and I can celebrate joining the Bordeaux Index team!

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