The Caskaway

A little bit about Me

I am a food and drink writer, chef, one-time publican, and restaurant manager with over thirty years of experience working in hospitality. Today I am lucky to live in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, my sixth island home. I’ve cooked in probably just about every type of kitchen, you can imagine, from beachside burger joints to world-famous pizza restaurants, in more than a few excellent food pubs, historic country inns, and a former RAC Blue Riband UK Hotel of the Year as well as spending a year in the wine trade.

Why the Caskaway?

During the lockdown, I started studying for a WSET qualifications. I currently have WSET Level 2 Distinctions in both wine and beer and love continuing to learn about both. I am a member of both the Guild of Food Writers and of the British Guild of Beer Writers. The Caskaway is where I post all my wine and beer writing and a bad pun.

Welcome to The Caskaway

Personal, subjective and in no way definitive but I hope The Caskaway reveals a little of the passion I have for wine and beer. I’m no expert but I love to learn and wanted to share my knowledge and discoveries with all my drink writing in one convenient place. Why am I doing this when there is so much information out there already? Well, if one person reads and tries something new, I will call that a win.

There are honest tasting notes that you might hopefully find helpful, entertaining and maybe even instructive. Some posts try to help with the confusing and often obscure specialist terminology and language in both the beer and wine worlds and yes, there is a lot! Finally, there are links to all of my favourite recipes made using wine and beer (see below), and finally some expanded reviews of great pubs and other bits and pieces.

Formerly a full-time chef and publican, I’ve worked for two breweries, an award-winning Jersey based wine merchants and now try to write and broadcast about food and drink for local and national media including What’s Brewing and BBC Local Radio.