Not all Wine Wankers are blessed with a perfect wine upbringing; being spoon-fed Hill of Grace from an early age. And they’re not all brought up in the world’s greatest wine regions either. Indeed, Wine Wanker Drew was quite the opposite. He was raised in the very pedestrian Australian coastal town of Woy Woy to parents who were not only teetotalers, had zero understanding of gourmet food.  Jan and Barrie’s idea of a big night out was a game ten pin bowling!

This changed however when at the age of 18, Drew escaped to the bright lights of Kings Cross where he fell into a wicked life working as a Sydney Waiter. Over the years Drew worked at many of the city’s finest restaurants including Forty One, Sailors Thai and the legendary Paramount with Christine Manfield. It was at these restaurants his passion for food and wine grew.

While working as a Wine Waiter Drew began studying Wine at Adelaide University’s famed Roseworthy Campus. Around the same time he began his affair with wine writing.

His single aim has always been to make learning about wine fun and easy.  Over his 20 years of wine writing Drew has contributed to many wine blogs, newspaper and magazine columns and has even been ‘thrown shade’ from legendary Australian broadcaster John Laws while talking about wine on radio.  Probably because he was wearing a very questionable cowboy hat, baby blue tank top and white short shorts!  Not what you would normally expect a wine writer to be wearing.

According to Drew the best part about being a Wine Wanker is all the booze you have to taste in order to educate your tastebuds!  Oh, and the travelling overseas to the world’s hottest wine regions and telling your uber jealous friends you’re actually ‘working’. So far Drew has wangled trips to Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, Chablis, Beaujolais (France), Tuscany, Piedmont, Umbria (Italy), Oporto (Portugal), Napa, Sonoma (USA), Penedes (Spain), Santortini (Greece), Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough (New Zealand) and of course every major (and minor) wine region in Australia.  Actually, come to think about it – he is a tosser!

When not drinking copious amounts of wine, Drew is a volunteer lifesaver at North Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club.  Yes – he is the wine writing equivalent of David Hasselhoff and is not afraid to be seen in a pair of speedos.