MEET THE SOMM | Giacomo Apolloni

Giacomo Apolloni grew up in a small Tuscan village drinking home-made wine. He came to London 12 years ago without a word of English and built his career as a bartender before branching out to wine. Four years ago he joined the London Club, where he was recently promoted to Head Sommelier of the Clubroom

I grew up in Querceta, a small village in Tuscany, five minutes from the sea, where all my family live. The best-known wine region nearby would be Colli di Luni, which makes a lot of Vermentino. But none of us knew anything about that. My introduction to wine was through the stuff my grandfather made at home. The neighbours would all buy grapes from the local grower, and then make their own wine to last through the year. They shared a destemmer and crusher, and my grandfather had a fibreglass tank in the garage where he would ferment the grape juice, move it into 50-litre demijohns, and put a layer of olive oil on top to protect it from oxidation. From there, he’d fill bottles as often as was needed.

Even when I was a bit older, the only wine I bought was €3 bottle, which I would drink from plastic cups with friends at the park. I had no idea wine could be ‘premium’.

I moved to London in 2013, when I was 21, to learn English. I had a friend who lived in West Ham, in a house with 12 other people, and I slept on his sofa for a month while I tried to get a job in an Italian restaurant. But I spoke zero English – zero – so instead, I got a job as a barback, in a nightclub called Strawberry Moons on Heddon Street. I didn’t even know such a job existed, taking glasses from the floor and washing them, preparing them for the bartenders. But it got me started, and once I could speak a bit of English, I started working behind the bar.

I was working in a great restaurant, but I’d taken a huge drop in salary – over 100% – and the list was only 200 wines. So after a while, I applied for a role at Pollen Street Social, and had an interview with the head somm, Agnieszka Swiecka MS. Afterwards, she asked me when I could do a trial. I told her I was free that day. So two hours later I was doing a shift there. I really didn’t know much, and had never been to – never mind worked in – a Michelin-starred restaurant, so I was very nervous. But I got lucky. She put me on a small section, including a table of Italians. I got chatting to them, and afterwards, they told Agnieska what great service I’d provided and how chatty I was. She gave me the job.

After Covid, I took a role at Sketch, which has three Michelin stars. I learned a lot there. Service was so intense – the way you talk, smile, even just how you move. But it was all about service, whereas I wanted to learn more about wine. I kept hearing about 67 – everyone said it was THE place to go if you were really serious about wine. I tried to get in touch a few times, but nothing. Then I saw this Italian sommelier – Federico – doing a film on their Instagram feed, and I thought, ‘I’ll do the Italian thing’. So I contacted him on Facebook.

Eventually I received an email from Ronan Sayburn MS (the Club’s former Head of Wine), asking me to interview on Zoom. This was in the second lockdown, and I was back in Italy looking after my mother, as my father was in intensive care with Covid and we thought he was going to die. At the same time, I started preparing for the most important interview of my life, putting notes of vintages, soils, grape varieties, the history of the Club, even Grant’s name, on post-its behind the screen. What I forgot about was my screensaver. This was in lockdown, when, for friends’ birthdays, you’d record messages for them – and the last one I’d done was for my friend Gianluca (now restaurant manager of The Ledbury in Notting Hill). I’d created a background with lots of sheep, because he’s from Sardinia. So of course this appeared when Ronan called. I was so stressed, trying to get rid of it, trying to explain – he just said, ‘Don’t worry, let’s carry on’. And of course he didn’t ask me anything about any of the topics I’d prepared. Anyhow, I got the job. And my father survived.

That was four years ago, and today I’m Head Sommelier of the Clubroom. What I love about 67 is that, while service is very important, the major focus is wine. People come here because they want to learn about wine, talk about wine – all aspects of it. There are several Members who know more than me. I’m still learning. But that was the good thing about lockdown – plenty of time to study. I’ve now completed the WSET Diploma, WSET Sake Level 3, and the Court of Master Sommelier Advanced Certificate. I’m on the waiting list for the Master Sommelier exam, so we’ll see. Although it’s a lot more tricky to study when you’re working 48 hours a week…