Peter Richards is a writer, broadcaster and Master of Wine. Known for his enthusiastic and authoritative style, Peter is in global demand as a presenter, broadcaster, event host and podcaster – when he’s not posing for photos in front of steel tanks.

Peter is a familiar face from his twelve years presenting on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen – the longest running Saturday morning show in UK TV history, which goes out to up to three million thirsty viewers. His broadcasting work is varied and credits include Sky One, BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, UKTV, ESPN, Amazon Prime, Food Network, Google Play, iTunes, TalkRadio and BBC Radio.

In 2022, a new wine and travel series, The Wild Side of Wine, launched with Peter as co-creator and presenter, with social media quickly dubbing him, ‘the David Attenborough of wine’. Here are some clips of Peter in action.

‘If only more communicators were as engaging and charismatic as you! A true gift.’ Prowein

Peter has written four books – The Wines of Chile, Wineries with Style, The Chile Wine Brief and The Essential Guide to English Wine – and contributed to more than a dozen more including The World Atlas of Wine, The Wine Opus and three editions of Saturday Kitchen cookbooks. Writing credits include The Guardian, FT, Times Online, Decanter, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, FHM, Square Meal, The Liberal and The World of Fine Wine. Reviews have praised him as ‘a polished and fluent writer’ (Evening Standard) and ‘illuminating and unpretentious’ (World of Fine Wine).

‘One of the UK’s best loved wine communicators’

Critical acclaim for Peter’s unique mixture of erudition and accessibility has led to awards including the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award, EWP Communicator of the Year, IWSC Communicator of the Year, Ribeiro Best Wine Communication, Young Wine Writer of the Year, a Gourmand World Book Award plus nominations for the Louis Roederer Awards and Imbibe Personality of the Year.

Peter is one of just a handful of Masters of Wine to pass all parts of the gruelling examination first time, earning in the process not just the Villa Maria and Robert Mondavi Winery awards, but also the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award as the top student in his graduation.

‘The Superman of vino’ Jimi Mistry

Peter is one half of a unique double act with his wife Susie, a fellow Master of Wine and TV presenter. Together they host events, broadcast and co-direct the acclaimed Wine Festival Winchester.

In 2020, Susie and Peter launched the Wine Blast podcast, which shot into the top-10 charts in the US and UK (Chartable: Apple, Food) and now sits within the top 1% of podcast by downloads globally (Buzzcast). Listeners span 200+ countries and Wine Blast has been recommended in the likes of The Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Radio Times, Decanter and Wine Folly.

In 2024, Wine Blast was nominated as a finalist in the inaugural 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicators Awards; in 2021, Wine Blast was a People’s Choice Podcast Awards Nominee; and in 2022 Wine Blast was named UK Wine Podcast of the Year in the Lux Life Food & Drink Awards. The podcast has described as, ‘A complete tonic for the heart, mind and soul…and utter temptation for the tastebuds.’

‘Inspiring…what a great service you have done to the world of wine with your work’ Laura Catena

Consultancy work leads Peter to advise hotels, restaurants, airlines and travel operators on their wines and F&B programmes. He also regularly hosts live events with credits including the BBC Good Food Shows, World Congress of Vine & Wine, Taste of London, Decanter Fine Wine Encounter and the award-winning The Palate, a nationwide search to find the country’s best amateur wine taster.

All this wine stuff has come as something of a surprise for Peter, who originally planned to be a normal writer and journalist after graduating from Oxford University with a double First Class degree in modern languages. But a stint working as a journalist in Chile led to a commission to write a guide to the nation’s vineyards – and he hasn’t looked back since. (What’s the wine equivalent of a duck to water..?!)

‘Brilliant performance. As always, your personality, style and humour make all the difference’ Decanter

Peter is proud to support many charities, having helped raise over £40,000 for good causes as a result of initiatives like running the Medoc Marathon and Denbies Half as well as via Wine Festival Winchester’s annual charity prize draw. In what time remains he works on his serve-volley game and acts as Susie’s ineffectual sous chef.

‘You are a real master of the audience – it was a privilege having you with us.’ Eduardo Chadwick, Viña Errázuriz