Matt Wilkin has travelled the globe for over 30 years immersing himself in all facets of the industry; from humble beginnings in McLaren Vale before venturing further afield to the UK (1998) following a number of years working in hospitality & wineries throughout Australia & France.

He is South Australia’s 1st Master Sommelier (one of 274 globally), along with Australia’s only Sommelier to win UK ASI Sommelier of the Year Title (2005). He’s held a variety of prestigious roles including Executive Sommelier Capital Hotel (** Michelin), where he oversaw purchasing, training, tastings & cellar management for 6 operations. He jointly owns London-based H2Vin specialising in Loire, Burgundy, Rhône, Spain & Sth Africa. Matt also consults several restaurants, educates & adjudicates for the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Worldwide, assists as a regular Judge for Sommelier Competitions, TEXSOM IWA, IWSC and DWWA.

His dedication has been recognised through high profile Awards & Achievements: Gosset Trophée Cèlébris UK 2002, Wine Intl. Sommelier of Year 2002, Harpers & Queen/Moët & Chandon UK Sommelier of Year 2002, Hunters & Frankau Cigar Travel Award Scholarship 2002, Habanos Cuba Intl. Concurso Cigar Sommelier 2003 (2nd Place Internationally), WSET Diploma, Dom Perignon Award of Excellence 2004 and Young Australian Achiever of the Year UK 2009.

DWWA Judge Profile

TEXSOM Judge Profile

matt@h2vin.co.uk

Hailing from the Rhône Valley in France Christian Honorez was no doubt destined for a career in quality wine, one which took him from the roots of the catering industry as a chef at Lou Miradou (Cavaillon, 2 Michelin forks) which he bought in 1978 and cooked until 1983.

Christian then went on to study wine in 1984 before moving to the UK in May 85 where he started working in the wine trade. In 1988 he created H&H wines which sold to Bancroft in late 99 where he continued on in his capacity as head wine buyer. To this day Christian has more than 25 years’ experience in bringing quality wines to top restaurants and hotels across the UK.

Such is his recognition for skill in sourcing quality wines that he judged for many years at the IWC, and has been requested on the Decanter World Wine Awards judging panels annually since 2005 as a consistent reference due to his tasting capabilities.

DWWA Judge Profile

IWSC Judge Profile

christian@h2vin.co.uk

“When one is born and raised in the middle of the vineyards of the Southern Rhône, you can hardly avoid the wine industry! Cedric became familiar with wine on his family estate near Gigondas, but it was during a stay in London when he decided to make his passion for wine his profession. This was the beginning of his adventure in the London hospitality industry, first as Sommelier and then as Restaurant Manager – Wine Buyer.

Cedric met Matt and Christian whilst he was a sommelier at The Boundary Restaurant in Shoreditch and kept in contact with H2Vin at the different restaurants he worked at afterwards. When an opportunity arose in 2013 for him to join the team, he jumped at the chance. He now uses his experience of the hospitality industry to look after the On-Trade customers at H2Vin.”

cedric@h2vin.co.uk

Bruno Murciano has almost always been involved in the hospitality industry. With his parents owning the family Bar Asador CRIS in the little homeland village of Caudete de las Fuentes, Bruno went on to study catering management in Castellon, Spain, followed by a sommelier degree in Toulouse, France.

He moved to the UK in 2002, where he worked as a Sommelier for Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxford, before moving to London to join Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House as Head Sommelier, and then the Ritz London as Chef Sommelier. He was named Best Sommelier of Spain 2008 and then spent a few years with Bibendum Wines as Prestige Accounts Manager.

Bruno owns a vineyard in his native Valencia with his brother Jose Luis, where they makes a range of artisanal Bobal Wines.

He co-founded deVINOS TastEspaña UK, a Spanish wine specialist importer for the UK market. After which he has recently developed a strategic partnership with H2Vin, to fully incorporate ‘de Vinos’ Spanish Wine Collection into H2Vin’s core portfolio. Murciano joined H2Vin’s management team, aiding sales and client relations whilst further developing H2Vin’s Spanish Agencies.

First introduced to fine wine during a university year working in the Jurançon region of south-west France, Jo Burns returned to London keen to turn his sweet wine dissertation into a full-time career.
Having followed the tried-and-tested Oddbins apprenticeship at several flagship fine wine stores, he progressed from cellar to retail manager for the award-winning La Réserve independent chain (now part of the Jeroboams group), where he bought his first bottle of burgundy from Christian Honorez (H2Vin), then moving into wine broking at Fine & Rare Wines, before an extended time at Ten-Acre Wines Limited organising all aspects of the selection, purchase and delivery of high-quality estates from across Europe and beyond. His twenty years’ experience of high-level customer service to private clients, brokers and independent retail are now put to good use at H2Vin, having joined the team in summer 2021.
He holds the WSET Diploma and tries to improve his pruning skills as a regular volunteer at London’s Forty Hall Vineyard.

Fuchsia is incredibly passionate about all things wine-related. She has been working in the industry in London since 2015, speaks three languages, and now consults as our PR Marketing Contributor. She likes to work closely with and promote other businesses, as she believes collaboration is fantastic for everyone involved. Some of her career highlights so far include working a harvest for the French winery Louis Latour in the famous winemaking region Burgundy, as well as travelling around Portugal to visit winemakers, whilst also volunteering at an English vineyard to tend to the vines all year round, not to mention passing her WSET Level 3 qualification with a view to further studying the WSET Diploma.