22 Facts About Gerald Asher

Gerald Albert Asher was born on 18 August 1932 and is an English wine personality based since 1974 in San Francisco, California.

Gerald Asher founded his own merchant house, Asher, Storey, and Co, in 1955 to import rare and lesser-known French wines to Britain.

In 1971, Gerald Asher relocated to New York to take up a senior position at Austin, Nichols, and Co, which imported Bordeaux-classed wines to the United States.

Gerald Asher moved the same year to San Francisco, where he became head of the Monterey Wine Company.

Gerald Asher writes that he had "a topsy-turvy introduction to California wine," having never tasted any before a 1967 visit, but he soon began championing it, organising the annual California Vintners Barrel Tasting Dinner along with Paul Kovi and Tom Margittai of New York's Four Seasons Restaurant.

Gerald Asher started the Mosswood Wine Company in 1978 within the McKesson Corporation and headed it until 1987 when McKesson sold off its interests in wine and spirits to concentrate on pharmaceuticals.

Gerald Asher took early retirement to focus solely on his wine writing, which he continues today.

Gerald Asher retained the post of wine editor at Gourmet until 2002, and thereafter contributed a selection of wines to each issue until the magazine discontinued in 2009.

Gerald Asher's writing and knowledge of wine are both acclaimed, with British wine critic Jancis Robinson calling him "America's most elegant wine writer".

Gerald Asher was inducted into the California Vintners' Hall of Fame by the Culinary Institute of America in 2009.

The family moved to rural Essex at the onset of the Blitz, and Gerald Asher was partly raised there, attending Westcliff High School for Boys in Westcliff-on-Sea.

Gerald Asher entered the wine industry in 1950, at the age of 18, when he took a part-time job assisting a wine retailer in Shepherd Market, between Curzon Street and Piccadilly in Mayfair, Central London.

In 1955, aged 23, Gerald Asher founded his own London merchant house, Gerald Asher, Storey and Co, to import rare and lesser-known French wines to Britain.

Gerald Asher joined the French wine committee of the US National Association of Wine Importers, and became chairman of the Champagne Importers' Association.

Gerald Asher moved to San Francisco in 1974 to head the Monterey Wine Company, a joint venture between the McKesson Corporation and the McFarlane family to market The Monterey Vineyard's wines.

Gerald Asher writes that he had "a topsy-turvy introduction to California wine", having never tasted any before his 1967 visit, but soon came to regard it as on a par with that from France.

Gerald Asher approached several Californian growers with this idea, but most were hesitant to take part.

Gerald Asher was vice-president of "21" Brands, a wine and spirits company within the McKesson Corporation, between 1976 and 1978.

Gerald Asher then started the Mosswood Wine Company within the McKesson structure to import and distribute European wine across the United States.

Aged 55, Gerald Asher took early retirement, and began to concentrate on his wine writing.

Gerald Asher stopped writing for Gourmet in February 2002, but he continued to contribute a selection of wines to the monthly menu published in each issue until the magazine discontinued in November 2009.

Gerald Asher is generally considered a highly respected authority in the field of wine, and has received acclaim throughout his career for his expertise and writing style, which is widely held to be elegant and enjoyable.