When Toby Peirce was opening batsman for a struggling Sussex side six or seven years ago he often said it felt like the hardest job in the world.

Now he has opened his own business - an independent fine wine merchants in Hove called Quaff - he just might have to think again.

Although a talented cricketer, Toby was playing in a young and inexperienced side which often found itself on the wrong end of a drubbing.

His only respite came during the winter months when he played and coached in the Stellenbosch wine-producing region of South Africa.

It was during these trips that he cultivated an interest in wine and began to wonder if he could turn his hobby into a career - the answer, it turned out, was yes.

Before retiring from cricket in 1999 he had already started studying for the wine industry's exams and in 2001 he joined Louis Roederer, one of France's Champagne houses, as a seller.

His clients included everyone from upmarket restaurants like Gordon Ramsey, Nobu and China White to Harvey Nicols and the High Street multiples like Tesco and Oddbins.

Six years in the trade gave him a good insight into how wine was being retailed in the UK, how to promote it and, importantly, who was doing it better than others.

Eventually he decided to go it alone and a month ago opened Quaff in Portland Road, which caters for newcomers and connoisseurs alike in very swish surroundings. Above all Toby wants to recapture some of the joy of buying wine.

Toby, 32, said: "Supermarkets have done a great job demystifying wine and taking the snobbery out of it but they have standardised the product too much, so you end up with 800 bottles, all with different labels, which all taste the same.

"It is not surprising that independent merchants are the fasting growing sector of the wine industry. People are craving choice and want to learn something about the product they are buying. It's about creating a complete experience."

As well as monthly ticketed tasting events, Toby has started something called Friday Five - informal turn-up-and-taste sessions to start the weekend.

He has also implemented a bottle library system where everyone's purchases are recorded so they don't have to remember what they bought.

Customers can also have personalised wine cases delivered to their door once a month where their individual preferences have been noted previously.

And for those who want to invest in wine, Quaff offers a cellar management consultancy and professional storage services.

"We place a heavy emphasis on three priorities; tasting, grape varieties, and food and wine matching.

"The first is self-explanatory, customers understand wines better having tasted them, and we will look to open bottles wherever possible.

"We have also organised the shop by grape variety, which may give palpitations to those who believe in the French idea of terroir, that each piece of land is different, but it has been received very positively indeed by the vast majority.

"The food and wine angle may also be self-explanatory to those in the wine trade, but we are trying hard to relate wines not only to their origins but also to the types of foods with which they may traditionally match, to put them in context."

And how does running your own shop compare to standing at the crease week after week?

"This is the first thing I have done which has been as hard as cricket.

"It's been harrowing, just chucking £50,000 at a shop is very scary. I have enormous respect for every hairdresser or Chinese restaurant owner who has gone it alone."

Tuesday, October 18, 2005