The Team

Ben Llewelyn
Ben has worked for 14 years for the wine trade. Starting at Oddbins in Manchester, he quickly learnt that to get on, you needed to be with a wholesaler, whose names were on the back of the many bottles he sold in the shop. He started working for Enotria Winecellars in London in 1999 and built up a client portfolio that consisted of many of the greats: River Café, Fifteen, and Hush, as well as handling the accounts of Carluccio’s and Strada. This work allowed him the opportunity to work and travel extensively in Italy, ...read more »

Mark Bedford
Mark has  been educated, lived or worked in Dorset, Wiltshire, Scotland, Spain, California - but for the last 22 years has been based in the county of his birth, Hampshire, working for Britain's oldest wine retailer, followed by what was seven years ago - its youngest.    Having embarked on a Theology degree at St Andrews with the intention of pursuing a teaching career, he found himself enrolled into Sandhurst to join up with the Royal Green Jackets.  He postponed his entry so he could 'get wine out of his system' through working for ...read more »

Peter Gentilli
Overton
Peter joined us in July 2011 after a long career in the wine trade working in variety of fields. Peter brings to the company passion for food and wine matching, considerable wine knowledge and excellent customer service skills. Peter said 'I'm very excited to be joining the company which has such a fabulous reputation not just locally but around the UK. I feel very honoured to be taking on this prestigious position within the company particularly in this period of evolution.

Stafford Trendell
Overton
Whilst Stafford has only been formally employed by Caviste since last October he had been a familiar face in the shop for many years before that, both behind the counter and helping with tasting events.  Stafford’s interest in wine goes back more years than he cares to remember to when he first worked in retailing when even large stores had an early closing day mid-week.  The store where Stafford worked opened a Harvey’s of Bristol concession and ...read more »

Andrew Chapman
Hungerford (and E commerce)
Andrew began in the trade as Assistant Sommelier in Oxford’s 4 star Randolph Hotel. He’d wanted to be a chef and had just completed a course at catering college, so it was a serendipitous entry into food and wine pairing - something Andrew still loves. Wine quickly became his passion and he stoked it by studying for every course the Wine & Sprit Education Trust could offer in London. After Forte promoted him to Restaurant Manager at the Randolph, he moved into general management. But the lure of the cellar was too great, and when he was offered the post of butler at Queen’s College, Oxford he nipped straight across Radcliffe Square to take up the position.  At the age of 25, he was the youngest ever butler of Queen’s.  Andrew was catapulted into the world of classical wines, but blew a few cobwebs out of the college’s 300 year old cellar by adding a few ‘colonial wines’ (their expression, not his!)  It was at Queen’s that Andrew began his first wine business, with several Oxford colleges as his earliest customers. He left in 1996 to concentrate on the business full-time and ran it for the next 12 years, becoming one of the first UK businesses to develop a successful e-commerce website, Surf4Wine.   Andrew returned to high street wine retailing in 2009 with Caviste, for whom he has launched their new website.  He continues to have a passion for food and cooking, and the challenges of an almost grown up family.  His other indulgence is the garden which he and his late wife, Alison, created together. Not unrelated to his love of food and wine, he has also started running to stay (or become) fit.

Christien Hay
Odiham
Christien is the most recent addition to the team, having only been working been working for Caviste since December 2010. His background is in the hospitality trade, having managed the Michelin starred Black Rat restaurant  in Winchester, where  his interest in wine led to him putting their list together and taking responsibility for the staff wine training. His love of wine first started when, working at a popular gastro pub, he was given wine training from the World Sommelier of the Year, Gerard Basset!  Christien is a country boy at heart and loves to spend time outside, including the occasional day's fishing or shooting, if he’s fortunate enough to get an invite!

David Penny
Odiham
As a graduate of the top catering college in London where he studied Hotel Management David very quickly found more happiness in wine. Then as a Director of one of London's top independent wine merchants he spent over twelve years buying and selling wine and has traveled widely to most major wine producing areas finding exciting and often eclectic wines. Moving away from London he then assumed the position of buyer for one of the leading UK mail order wine companies before stepping back to add his considerable knowledge to Caviste on a part time basis. With more free time on his hands this has enabled him to travel to China and India where he has family but he also enjoys time on fenland rivers where he has a boat, or skiing in the  less well known Alpine ski resorts.

Ian Barker
Operations
Ian had a relatively late introduction to the wine trade.  As a frequent customer of his local wine merchant in Bath, he realised that his professional life lacked a certain spark.  So in 2002, wrote a speculative letter to the managing director, suggesting he may be able to help with his twenty years of business experience in stores, buying and supply chain at Somerfield.  This was just what the company required and after a period of consultancy, he became Operations Director of Great Western Wines.  Initially sceptical about the mystic surrounding wine, he soon learnt that  growers who really cared about what happened in the vineyard made wine that tasted far superior to what was on the shelves of his supermarket employer. Further inspired by a visit to Vinitaly, he developed a passion for Italian wines, especially their luscious whites, and helped the company source a number of top Italian producers.  Meanwhile the success of Great Western Wine was becoming recognised, and sadly for him, the company was bought and taken over by Enotria in 2010.  Still eager to utilise his skills to help others, he has joined Caviste as Operations Director and is looking forward to making a significant difference to the development of the company, and will endeavour to introduce a few new Italian producers!  He continues to live in Bath with his wife Emily, and in their spare time enjoys cheering for Bath Rugby, exotic gardening, visiting their cottage in Cornwall and wondering what mischief the two cats are getting up to.

Tina Devereux
Accounts
Tina qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992, and spent 17 years working in the luxury watch industry for the Swatch Group, the owners of a basket of brands including Breguet, Blancpain, Omega, Rado, Tissot, Longines and of course Swatch. She joined Caviste in October 2009 as their part time Financial Controller when looking for a better work life balance and a job nearer to home. She has really enjoyed learning about wine from her expert colleagues, especially trying many new grape varieties, and understanding the importance of food and wine matching. So whilst she would still choose to drink a really crisp Sauvignon without food, she has become more adventurous with her boundaries now including Verdejo, Riesling and Chenin Blanc – and that’s just the whites. Outside of work, there is plenty to get passionate about  – her family and friends, walking miles around Overton (which she does most mornings), cooking and singing.

Heidi Upton
Agency business and wholesale
Heidi developed a taste for the fine things in life, including wine, at a young age.  Whilst studying for her Geography degree at Newcastle University Heidi completed the WSET Intermediate Certificate and decided that a career in wine was the only way to go in order to truly indulge this passion.  After almost five years working for Berry Brothers and Rudd and a few more WSET exams later Heidi joined Caviste in December 2010.  Initially based in the Overton shop followed before Heidi took on a new challenge with the wholesale side of the business, Carte Blanche Wines, to sell to pubs, restaurants and hotels in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset.  Heidi lives in Hampshire with her husband Edward and dog Lafite.  When not selling wine Heidi is likely to be found outdoors, riding, cycling and sometimes even running!