Andrew Jefford is one of the world’s most thoughtful and eloquent wine writers. He talks to Sarah Kemp about his new book “Drinking with the Valkyries” which contains essays on wine from his columns in Decanter and World of Fine Wine. In this wide-ranging interview, they discuss everything from the people who influenced him as a writer (spoiler alert Robert Louis Stevenson and Ralph Steadman), why he dislikes the hierarchical aspect of scoring, different nationality’s palates, Australian wines’ strengths and weaknesses, why he changed his mind on what matters most in making wine, why wine writers should take an oath not to take wine too seriously - and that’s just a few of the topics. A fascinating discussion with today’s most admired wine writer.