Rupert Pritchett - Proprietor Rupert@tauruswines.co.uk Rupert has spent nearly 15 years in the wine trade, starting his career at the less-than-glamorous Victoria Wine in Guildford before becoming a manager of Majestic Wine. He has gained practical experience of winemaking both in the Southern Rhône (Gigondas) for Gabriel Meffre where he earned the 'Certificate de Vinificateur' and in Western Australia (The Margaret River) where he worked a vintage for Capel Vale. He holds the Wine and Spirit Education trust diploma and the professional certificate in spirits. Rupert judges for both the International Wine Challenge and the Decanter Magazine Wine Awards. For the last three consecutive years he has been named by the Observer Magazine as one of the 50 "Rising Stars of the Drinks Industry". Rupert has also attended the Ecole des Grandes Maisons d'Alsace; a course run annually for 10 of the UK's top wine-buyers and sommeliers, from which he graduated as top candidate. Away from wine Rupert is a keen runner although even this seems to become 'winey' in the location of major events - He completed Marathon du Medoc (Bordeaux) in September 2007 despite stopping off at quite a few of the wine tasting stops on the circuit and the oyster tasting at the 23rd mile. He will also be taking part in a similar event in Beaune (Burgundy) in October 2011.
	Vivien Pritchett - co-owner Vivien@tauruswines.co.uk Vivien is a familiar face to many people in Surrey having been a professional caterer/restaurateur for nearly 30 years. Vivien is responsible for buying any food items both for the food section of the store and for hampers. On the top of this she is an invaluable reference for any food/wine matching questions! Away from wine she is has been known to play bridge, sometimes even without sherry.
	Rob MacCulloch - Domestique Rob@tauruswines.co.uk Rob has forgotten more about wine that we will ever know. A battle scarred veteran of Oddbins (back in the days when it was good), Rob jumped out of the wreckage of Oddbins in 1999 to work a vintage at Montana Wines in Gisborne, New Zealand. Rob has also since worked for the well respected agents Hatch Mansfield and Bibendum, handling both national accounts and independent wine shops. Rob passed both the theory and tasting papers of the Master of Wine exams (no mean feat) and then left completing the MW dissertation behind somewhere within his chosen subject of Mont Ventoux, mainly due to cycling up the hill too often in the heat and only knowing how to cycle in an anti-clockwise direction due to his regular attendance at the velodrome. If you want to know what a domestique is you will just have to Google it…
	Andy Mead - Bon Viveur andrew@tauruswines.co.uk Andy is our expert on the welcoming and jolly bon-viveurs that are our restaurant and pub customers. With over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry Andy has previously worked for several years as the manager of the Loch Fyne Restaurant in Guildford as well as the Clubhouse Manager of Hurtwood Park Polo Club. Even now he puts in occasional evening star turns behind the bar at The Richard Onslow in Cranleigh. A keen sportsman - a qualified football referee, no less - Andy has a genuine enthusiasm and delight for all things wine. Currently the holder of the WSET higher certificate, Andy is now studying for the very demanding WSET Diploma.
	Douglas Whitbread - Placement Student douglas@tauruswines.co.uk We delighted to welcome a new placement student - Douglas Whitbread (no - no relation to the brewers) who will be here for the Summer. Douglas has previously worked at London based wine-merchants Slurp and is forward to getting some country air... "During a cycling trip through France that Douglas Whitbreadeventually took me a distance of 500 miles, I was employed by the Domain Germain Pere et fils (Saint Romain, Burgundy) as a grape picker during the vendange season (Sept. /Oct. 2010). Furthermore In August I plan to travel to Hongkong, shanghai and Beijing where I plan to check out the changing nature of international wine trade...and seek some local (wine based) employement. Outside wine I enjoy power boating, cricket and playing the ukulele"
	Damian Vincent - Web witchcraft and wizardry damian@geekstotherescue.co.uk As members of the wine trade we would be happy with a quill, some ink, a good lunch and a nice glass of claret but such is the modern world that we have occasionally to be very vulgar and actually sell something to earn a crust. This requires the witchcraft and technology this is the internet and as such we need a fully house-trained pet geek who actually knows what HTML,Twitter and Facebook are. Fortunately we have a fully-fledged one in the form of Damian who patiently deals with any technical issues. If you have any problems with our website please contact him.

Rebecca Gibb - New Zealand nz@tauruswines.co.uk A freelance writer and former educator at the London Wine Academy Rebecca contributes regularly for Decanter, Harpers Wine and Spirit, Drinks International, Wine Business International, Just-Drinks.com and Food and Travel Magazine. Rebecca was named Young Wine Writer of the Year in 2006 and is now one of the youngest Master of Wine students in the world. Working in wine journalism means she travels extensively and over the past few years she has been working hard on her carbon footprint to get to know the wines of South America, Australasia and Europe. Rebecca moved to NZ in December 2009 and has been consulting for us ever since.

Nigel Bulpitt - Spain & UK spain@tauruswines.co.uk Nigel's interest in wine has been a long one, after passing his Wine and Spirit education trust diploma in 1986, Nigel gave up accountancy to study for the Master of Wine exam (and to learn Spanish at the same time which is useful when visiting his daughter who lives there). Nigel is an active member of the Wessex committee of the UK Vineyards Association, so expect to see a few new English/Spanish wines creeping into the list. (The photo is of him receiving a prize for Priors Dean Vineyard at the House of Lords.) When he is not studying hard Nigel enjoys walking and cycling holidays and well as looking after his classic car.