John Radford dies

wow that was a shock and brought a tear or two up.
i first met John at evening class in sandiacre notts, i always remember his comment on blind tasting. "sight of the label is worth 50 years experience".when i worked for whitbreads we would often "Taste" wine at the back of the shop on little hallam lane ilkeston.the very best to Jill and the family...
i was just about to email john on his thoughts on 1993 Ch latour. RIP.

I was one of a group of fans/friends who met up with him and the lovely Jill once a year to have a meal. We never missed an opportunity to praise him. At first it embarrassed him but eventually he knew that we were sincere and he accepted it graciously. I always thought that he should have been the successor to Richard Dimbleby. He was a very natural, knowledgeable and entertaining broadcaster. He was also a wonderful person, a loyal friend and a loving Husband, Father and Grandfather.

He will be remembered throughout Sussex as an erudite and intelligent broadcaster for BBC Southern Counties Radio. He made local breakfast radio worth listening to. An act that was impossible to follow as SCR found out when they let him go. The world is poorer without him.

Dear John: it was great sharing a lot of tasting´s with you, we will miss your word´s & contribution to Spanich wines. Sincerely

Dear John,

Today, I just read the bad news you passed away last October the 19th, which was the last headline I wanted to see to start this week.

Many times I had to offer you a chair in my booth in different wine shows while you were giving light to my still growing knowledge about wines; I thank you for that. Your enormous personality has always filled our rooms and hearts and your friendliness to the Spanish wine universe will no doubt be sorely missed. I will.

I am sure you are now enjoying the best wines ever and sharing your precious comments with the gods in that relaxing atmosphere you are capable of creating as nobody else.

Rest in peace, my friend.

John was my Uncle and an inspiration to so so many people, myself included. I just wish I'd had the humility to tell him when he was still around to hear it.

We'll all miss John, whose presence invariably filled the room. He had a great zest for life (and lunch) as well as amazing knowledge of Spain and its wines, and it's sad to think he is no longer with us.

It was with great sadness that the Consejo Regulador heard the news of John Radford’s death. His knowledge and passion for Spanish and Riojan wines was a blessing both for the UK wine trade and the Spanish wine industry. His legacy will of course always be with us in his many books and ‘The Wines of Rioja’ will always hold a very special place for us.

We will miss his knowledge, his tireless commitment and we are so pleased that of all the countries he could have chosen to specialise in, he picked Spain.

John was a very good friend for over 40 years and I shall miss him enormously. We worked together on many projects and shared our knowledge when writing about Spanish wines. If his Desert Island wine was Amontillado, his Last Supper would always have been a shoulder of Castillian Roast Lamb with a bottle of a favourite Rioja and a large Carlos Primero Brandy to follow!
Thank you John for all your wisdom and friendship.

I took John on a number of press trips to Spain and had alot of fun learning about Spanish wines from him. He was also a great supporter of the Fenavin wine fair and helped us promote the fair in the UK. He will be sadly missed at Fenavin next year and I will raise a glass in his memory.

John sent me a very kind and caring email, enquiring about my health on the 18th October, the day before he died. He made his mark and he cared about people. He shall be missed.

I am devastated by the news of John's passing. He has been a good friend throughout my 37 years in the Spanish wine business. He will be sadly missed by all in the trade.

Very sad news, John we will miss you a lot. Thnaks for all what I have learned and thanks for sharing your passion. John un adiós y un abrazo con el máximo cariño, te echaremos mucho de menos amigo.

John was the first person to teach me on wine when I was working at Browne’s wine bar in Nottingham that would have been in 1980. Thirty two years later I am still in the wine trade here in the US thanks to him? I will raise a glass to him tonight

Very sorry to hear about John's passing. He was a fountain of knowledge on Spain and was always encouraging the younger wine journalists.

I remember that on a press trip to Priorat in 2009, he was particularly excited about the birth of his first grandchild and it is very sad that he will not be there to see him grow up.

Condolences to the Radford family.

It was a great privilege knowing him for years and then having him at our winery in Navarra tasting our wines. I will never forget his charm, his voice, his knowledge.
Condelences to his family, friends and the UK trade and Spanish wine business. He did a lot for all of us.
Take care amigo, un abrazo

Very sad news - John was also highly respected in the UK, a huge personality and I thank him for sharing his enormous knowledge of Spanish wine so generously. Un abrazo muy fuerte, amigo.

John was indeed larger than life, always it seemed either having lunch, about to have lunch, or just finishing lunch. His knowledge of Spain was huge and - most importantly - he was unfailingly generous in sharing it. I have emailed him many times over the years with queries for features I was writing on Spain, features that a less-generous journalist, considering he was the acknowledged expert, might consider should have been his by right, and he would quickly reply with exhaustive detail and contacts. He was good company on press trips (after breakfast he would asd, 'when are we going to get our first sniff of a corkscrew?'), and he had a taste for some of the most appalling puns I've ever had the pleasure of groaning over. The world of Spanish wine is the poorer without him.

Knew John well. Awesome knowledge of Spanish wines and regions; first to ask when I had a question.
Will be very sadly missed by many in the Wine Trade

He will be much missed. Condolences to his family and friends.

I'm very sorry to hear that John is no longer with us. He's been a great advocate for the best of Spain over the past decade -- and we'll all miss him at the Decanter World Wine Awards, too.