Guilty Pleasures: Tobias Gorn

Tobias Gorn is a fine wine, whisky and cigar specialist writer and consultant. A panel chair at the IWSC and a regular judge for our Drinks Business Global Masters series, Gorn is also director of spirits for wine fraud specialist Maureen Downey.

1: What is your definition of a guilty pleasure?

I would say it’s something that you’re not supposed to be doing and is not good for the person doing it, but something you find joyous. When it comes to wine this could be enjoying something that is neither new nor fashionable, but is still a happy drink to consume. A guilty pleasure can also be something that is expensive and a touch beyond someone’s everyday means, but with a bit of stretch it is occasionally reachable.

2: What is your guilty pleasure wine from the Rhône Valley?

My guilty pleasure from the Rhône Valley is their incredible whites. The more I taste Roussanne and Marsanne, the happier I get. I prefer these two to top whites from Alsace or Burgundy. They are my favourite white wines.

3: What’s your guilty pleasure when you’re not working?

I have four jobs right now and not enough time to do all of them so my biggest guilty pleasure is probably just to walk the dog and enjoy a day off with friends pottering about in the garden with a nice drink and a cigar. I love walking around botanical gardens. In my spare time I enjoy inspecting counterfeit spirits – finding a fake is weirdly satisfying and fun.

4: What is your guilty pleasure food? 

I can recall going to the famous Franco Manca pizza joint with a close friend and drinking a very fine vintage wine out of a water tumbler, which was definitely a guilty pleasure. Pizza in any shape and form is my guilty pleasure food.

Côtes du Rhône Wines is running its Guilty Pleasures festival all October – for more information click here