Stuart Pigott

Stuart Pigott, 2014

Stuart Pigott (born May 26, 1960 in Orpington , London ) is a British wine critic , author and journalist . He is considered an unconventional wine critic and internationally as one of the best connoisseurs of German wine .

Life

Pigott studied painting and art history in London from 1979 at Goldsmith College and at St. Martins School of Art . After a one-year break from studying, during which he worked as a wine waiter in the Tate Gallery restaurant , he continued his studies at the Royal College of Art in London.

He began his journalistic work in 1980 with articles for a New York art magazine. From 1993 he dealt with painting again. After graduating in 1986, Pigott devoted himself full-time to the subject of wine. In 1989 he moved from London to Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle. Stuart Pigott has lived and worked as a freelance writer in his adopted home Berlin since the end of 1993 . From 2008 to 2009 Pigott studied two semesters at the University of Applied Sciences for Viticulture in Geisenheim / Rheingau. He then experimented for a year in a practical way with Müller-Thurgau vines from the Central Franconian winery Stahl im Taubertal .

Stuart Pigott regularly writes wine columns for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , the Feinschmecker and Fine - Das Weinmagazin . He describes his writing style as “ gonzo wine journalism” and means “unconditional research that entangles the journalist deeply in his topic.” On the subject of wine, he advocates theses such as “Wine can be made almost anywhere in the world” and anyone can do it himself deciding whether a wine tastes good or not, no wine criticism is necessary.

Stuart Pigott has been writing for the website of wine critic and former editor of Wine Spectator , James Suckling, since September 2016 . While his reports are freely accessible, his reviews of the wines can only be read against payment.

Stuart Pigott supports with his project “Wine helps. Wine lovers against AIDS “the German AIDS Foundation . Together with other international wine critics, he campaigns against the construction of the Hochmoselübergang , a four-lane car bridge over the Moselle with a subsequent route through the wine-growing regions.

Pigott was married to the sommelier and culinary journalist Ursula Heinzelmann until 2015 . He lives in Berlin and New York. Since March 12, 2018, he has also had German citizenship in addition to British citizenship, as he did not want to lose his privileges as an EU citizen in view of the upcoming Brexit .

Publications (selection)

• with Hugh Johnson : Atlas of German Wines. Munich 1995
• The leading winemakers and top wines in Germany. Econ, Düsseldorf 1998
• With a dash of wine. Bern 1998
• Divine potion and delusion. Munich 1999
• My wine home - Germany's great white wines. Munich 2001
• Brave new world of wine. On the effects of globalization on the culture of wine. Argon, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-87024-614-6 ; Scherz, ISBN 978-3-502-15085-5 .
• Planet wine. Scherz, Frankfurt a. M. 2005, ISBN 978-3-502-15877-6 .
• Wein speaks German. Wines, winemakers, wine landscapes. Scherz, Frankfurt a. M. 2007, hardback, ISBN 978-3-502-19000-4 .
• Wild Wine. Journey into the future of wine. Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 2008, ISBN 978-3-596-16380-9 .
• Wine far away. Expeditions from Norway across the Caucasus to China. Scherz, Frankfurt a. M. 2009, ISBN 978-3-502-15115-9 .
• with Ursula Heinzelmann, Chandra Kurt , Manfred Lüer: Stuart Pigott's Wine Tours - Baden and Alsace. Scherz, Frankfurt a. M. 2009, ISBN 978-3-502-15176-0 .
• with Chandra Kurt, Manfred Lüer: Stuart Pigotts Weinreisen - Mosel. Scherz, Frankfurt a. M. 2009, ISBN 978-3-502-15173-9 .
• Wine wonder Germany. Tre Torri Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-941641-37-2 .
• Stuart Pigott's little ingenious wine guide 2010. Scherz, Frankfurt a. M. 2010, ISBN 978-3-502-15100-5 .
• Planet Riesling. Top class white wine. Tre Torri Verlag, Wiesbaden 2014, ISBN 978-3-944628-41-7 .

Awards

• 1992: Steinfeder Prize
• 2004: Prix ​​du Champagne Lanson
• 2020: Professor Müller Thurgau Prize

Movies

• Wine wonder Germany . Discover Germany with Stuart Pigott. Documentation series in 18 episodes of 30 minutes each, Germany, 2010/2011/2013, book: Stuart Pigott, Alexander Saran , director: Alexander Saran, production: Bayerisches Fernsehen .
• Our guest: Stuart Pigott, wine journalist and critic. Talk, Germany, 2009, 17:47 min., Moderation: Hajo Schumacher , director: Karin Rewald, production: Deutsche Welle (DW), series: typically German , first broadcast: November 13, 2009 on DW, online video from DW.
• Wine critic Stuart Pigott. Television report, Germany, 2008, 4:44 min., Production: RBB , series: Polylux , first broadcast: September 11, 2008, table of contents. ( Memento from December 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Gourmets in 60 minutes - is that possible? Talk, Germany, 2006, 55 min., Night studio with Volker Panzer , production: ZDF , first broadcast: April 23, 2006. With Sarah Wiener , Ursula Heinzelmann , Johanna Maier , Peter Hahne , Stuart Pigott.

Web links

Commons : Stuart Pigott  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Stuart Pigott in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official site of Stuart Pigott
• Wine wonder Germany. Second season. In: Bayerischer Rundfunk , October 24, 2011, with picture gallery.
• Wine wonder Germany. Six new episodes. In: BR , 2013
• An interview with the wine critic Stuart Pigott. In: hr-info Lebensart, May 2, 2011, 24:17 min.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Susanne Billig : Detour to the exotic world of wine. In: Deutschlandradio , October 18, 2006.
     Andreas Trojan: Stuart Pigott: “For young winemakers, wine is part of pop culture.” In: Börsenblatt of April 29, 2011, interview.
     bad .: From the spirit of wine. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung from December 5, 2004, No. 49, page R5.
2. ↑ H. Kreitling, E. Krekeler, F. Müller: "There is enormous potential in German wine." In: Die Welt, September 28, 2009, interview.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Stuart Pigott: I am Riesling. In: stuartpigott.de , September 13, 2014.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Uta Brandes : A matter of taste. Vol. 6, Forum series. Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany GmbH (Ed.), Steidl Verlag , Göttingen 1996, ISBN 3-88243-409-0 , p. 314.
5. ↑ Weinwunder Germany. Stuart Pigott's voyages of discovery. ( Memento from December 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: Bayerisches Fernsehen , March 15, 2011.
6. ↑ Herbert Kriener: Stuart Pigott makes wine in the "Hasennestle". In: Main-Post , May 22, 2009, only beginning of article.
     sis: International wine critic and tasting winemaker caught up with the harvest. "One-time project". In: Fränkischer Anzeiger , October 1, 2009.
7. ↑ NN : The wine punk. In: Rheinische Post , March 17, 2007: "He is English, likes to wear flippant Vivienne Westwood suits , speaks German with a typical British accent";
     see. The wine punk. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , February 12, 2007.
8. ↑ Stuart Pigott hires James Suckling. In: weinkenner.de , September 18, 2016.
9. ↑ Video: Shame on You Mr. Beck. In: b50neu.de , January 25, 2008, 2:42 min.
     Thomas Holl: The “Hochmoselübergang”. When vines cry. In: FAZ of April 27, 2011.
10. ↑ About Ursula Heinzelmann. In: S. Fischer Verlag , accessed on October 25, 2011.
11. ↑ Jennifer Wiebking: Wine Blogs? For God's sake! In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin - Eating and Drinking Extra , November 2015, page 50, questionnaire.
12. ↑ Stuart Pigott: Stuart Pigotts Brexit: Becoming German. In: FASZ , April 1, 2018, only beginning of article.
13. ↑ Press release: Stuart Pigott's voyages of discovery. ( Memento of December 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: BR , November 11, 2010.
14. ↑ Press release: Gourmets in 60 minutes - is that possible? In: ZDF , April 13, 2006.