Simon André

The wine merchant and author André Louis Simon (1877-1970) of French descent lived in England from the age of 17. The author Hugh Johnson called him the "charismatic leader of the English wine trade in the first half of the 20th century". In 1902, he was appointed London agent for the champagne house Pommery & Greno. In 1908, he founded the "Wine Trade Club" with friends, where organised tastings were held and lectures were given on wine topics. This club is regarded as the forerunner of the Masters of Wine, which was founded 45 years later.

Simon André - Porträt und Buchcover

Foundation of the International Wine & Food Society

In 1931, Simon organised a dinner in honour of George Saintsbury (1845-1933), author of the classic "Notes on a Cellar Book". This meeting developed into the "Saintsbury Club", which still exists today and in which Simon acted as the first treasurer and cellar master. In 1933, he founded the International Wine & Food Society, was its first president and editor of the magazine "Wine and Food". After the end of Prohibition in the USA, Simon made his first trip to the USA in 1934 and founded an IWFS branch in New York. He wrote about the profession of a champagne merchant: 'He must be a good mixer rather than a salesman, must be neither a teetotaller nor a drunkard, and must be able to drink champagne every day without getting sick of it or addicted to it.

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Simon André

Foundation of the International Wine & Food Society

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Simon André

Foundation of the International Wine & Food Society

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