About Us

Meet the team behind Simply Spanish Wine

Matthew Desoutter

Matthew is the driving force behind Simply Spanish Wine. He first entered the wine world more than 30 years ago, working at Stephen Spurrier’s wonderful Les Caves de la Madeleine wine shop in Paris. He then headed south to Madrid where he spent twenty years at the British Embassy focused on agriculture, environment and economic issues.

During that time, he developed a broad network of friends and contacts across the Spanish wine sector, as well as a deep understanding of the economic links between the UK and Spain. He also continued to develop his love and knowledge of wine through study and regular interaction with Spanish wineries.

In 2016, Matthew decided to leave the embassy and dedicate himself full-time to the wine world. Combining his network of contacts in Spain, his knowledge of the bilateral trade environment, and his wine qualifications, Matthew set up Desoutter & James SL to export wine to the UK, particularly distributors to the UK on-trade.

Simply Spanish Wine is an extension of that project, focused on helping a global audience to understand how great Spanish wine really is. Here Matthew produces much of the technical content about grapes, regions and winemaking techniques, as well as working with Ben on our blog articles and newsletter to take you on a journey through the broader aspects of the Spanish wine world.

 

Ben Giddings

Ben is a freelance writer with 25 years' experience in marketing and communications.

He has been passionate about wine since his 18th birthday when he was given a bottle of St Émilion as a present and began to realise wine could be much more than just a drink to go with Sunday lunch.

But it wasn’t until he arrived in Spain 20 years ago that he discovered the enormous variety of styles that could be found within a bottle – and the exceptional value for money that Spanish wine represented. Since then, he has spent his free time travelling and tasting his way around Spain.

When Matthew launched Desoutter & James, Ben acted as his adviser on web and communications and is now manages the Simply Spanish Wine website as well as acting as a contributing author on articles and newsletters.

He also tastes a lot of the wine!