John Radford

John Radford, writer, broadcaster and Spanish wine specialist, died on 19 October 2012, aged 65. He was co-chair of Spain for the Decanter World Wine Awards since its inception and a longstanding Decanter contributor. He started out in wine retail at Vintage Wines in Nottingham, and soon discovered that he had a gift as a wine educator and communicator. He spent 13 years as a presenter on BBC local radio, while building his reputation as an expert on the wines of Spain. In 1998 his first book, The New Spain, won the Glenfiddich and Lanson awards. He followed this up with The Wines of Rioja and Cook Espana, Drink Espana (with Mario Sandoval). In 1996 was elected to the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino.