The Short Version
Born in 1980 and raised in Halifax, England, Kris Chislett now resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife Denise, their cat Maisy and his overflowing collections of Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and Decanter magazines.
When it comes to wine, Kris drinks only the most prestigious, most expensive wines from around the world (when someone else is paying). The rest of the time he keeps his wine purchases to around $20, $30 if it’s a special occasion. He has been in the hospitality industry since the age of 15, working everything from fine dining banquets serving English dignitaries, right through to McDonalds (he lasted 2 weeks under the Golden Arches).
Kris is one of only a few Certified Sommeliers (Court of Master Sommeliers) and Certified Specialist of Wine (Society of Wine Educators) in North-East Florida. He created this website in order to give people the resource he never had: an unpretentious, user-friendly, fun, interactive guide to the world of wine.
Kris Chislett
Certified Sommelier and Certified Specialist of Wine
email: kris@blogyourwine.com
twitter: @krischislett
The Long Version
Born and raised in West Yorkshire, England in a middle class upbringing, I certainly had no intention of doing what I’m doing right now, but then that’s everybody’s story, isn’t it…?
Now I don’t know how much you may or may not know about Yorkshire, but overall it’s a very humble place. Each town usually has a very industrial heritage and an abundance of untouched countryside on the outskirts. A beautiful part of the country, but like I said, humble. Growing up, I always had dreams of being an airline pilot, however the mindset of my peers going through the English educational system was: finish High School (sometimes), get a “proper” job, have kids, and then die. And unfortunately they didn’t always fall in that order…
In order for you to get a basic understanding of this concept, I’d like to revert to the surreal genius of English comedian Mr. Eddie Izzard, who has a firm grasp of what I’m trying to explain:
“…the careers advisor used to come to school and he used to get the kids together and say, “Whatcha you want to do, kid? Whatcha you want to do? Tell me, tell me your dreams!” One kid would say, “I want to be a space astronaut, go to outer space, and discover things that have never been discovered.” He said, “Look, you’re British, so scale it down a bit, all right?” “All right, I want to work in a shoe shop then! Discover shoes that no one’s ever discovered right in the back of the shop on the left.” And he said, “Look, you’re British, so scale it down a bit, all right?” “All right, I want to work in a sewer then…!”
In this respect I’ve always been envious with how Americans can be whatever they want to be without getting laughed at. “You want to be President when you grow up?” Sure, why not! Go get ‘em kid!
Even from a young age, I always had ambition, and a definite entrepreneurial side to me. At the tender age of 10, over spring-break, I acquired a pirated copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie on VHS. Once school started back, I duly rented said movie (which wasn’t even released in movie theaters in England for another 2 months) to other kids at school for a charge of £1.50 (about $2). Looking back, I realize that a good friend would have just let other kids borrow the film….but I didn’t charge any late fees!
Years later, going into High School, chewing gum became the name of the game.
I bought it at 5 pence a pack, sold it at 10 pence a pack, and by the end of the term I had quite easily sold over 300 packs. Some days I had to choose between bringing school books, or filling my bag with sticks of gum. The gum normally won, and my grades suffered.
At the end of the school term, the whole school (just over 1,000 students) gathered together for a final word from the Headmaster before we were dismissed for spring break. He mentioned that in all his years of teaching, he had “…NEVER seen as much chewing stuck to the underneath of desks!” and that “THIS MUST STOP!”
They never knew where it was coming from, but I made a tough career decision and resigned as CEO of my chewing gum empire.
A year or two later (still in High School), when presented with the opportunity to organize my own two week work placement, I set my sights on an internship at Leeds-Bradford Airport (still at this point pursuing my dreams of being a pilot). Unfortunately, the minimum age to work in an airport at that time was 16. I was 15. 
So, under advisement of my mother, (she said the cash tips would be good) and also the fact I had always liked the British Comedy Fawlty Towers; I would spend the next two weeks working for The George Hotel, in the neighboring town of Huddersfield.
I didn’t make a single tip, and it was nowhere near as much fun as Fawlty Towers…
I was however intrigued with the atmosphere of working in a Hotel. There was so much going on all in one building; the restaurant, room service, banquets, front desk, maintenance etc. I knew that I’d found myself a career, or at least a “proper” job.
I was definitely ridiculed amongst my High School friends when I mentioned that I was going on to study at College, and then potentially University. Remember at the start of this story, when I mentioned most people went straight into jobs from High School.
I was one of the few kids from my year that ended up eventually going on to University, or at least sticking with it for the full course. It’s probably worth noting that I was never too academically inclined. I was a solid-C student all the way through High School; it wasn’t until College that I really came into my own. Don’t get me wrong, I always loved High School, but I just didn’t see any purpose in studying about subjects that I knew (at least then) would never benefit me later in life. Saying all of that, I wish I had listened a little more!
Scottish comedian Billy Connelly sums up my thoughts perfectly;
“…it’s been a long time since I’ve heard Hypotenuse mentioned over the dinner table! Have you noticed that…? How rarely you use hypotenuse? It’s of f***-all use to anybody! It’s hard to fit it into casual conversation isn’t it? The only time you’ll find it is in a crossword! It’s as useless as Algebra! Why did we learn Algebra, I have no intention of going there!?”
Through all of this, I unfortunately don’t have a story about how I tasted my first wine, and had a “Eureka!!!” moment. It just didn’t happen that way. My first exposure to wine was the usual story; cheap crap wine given to me by my parents when I was not old enough to drink (even by English standards). I believe it was Lambrusco (which my Mom still drinks). If you’ve ever tried Lambrusco you’ll know it’s fairly sweet, but I do remember kind of liking it.
My first wine book was bought for me by my parents at the tender age of 17. It was the Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine while I was at college studying Hospitality Business Management. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this book, but if you do, please observe that it’s about an inch-and-a-half thick, hard bound with a beautiful red cloth cover, and will put you to sleep faster than a glass of Merlot laced with horse tranquilizers. Certainly not the best place to start my wine journey! I never even really opened that book until just a couple of years ago, when I realized that mostly everything was out of date.
I continued with my studies, and went on to study Hospitality Management at Leeds Metropolitan University. I met my wife while on another Internship, this time at Planet Hollywood in Orlando. I can’t blame my Mother for this one, Planet Hollywood was the best my University could do! My wife was the only good thing to come out of that internship….and if I ever see the University appointed internship advisor in-person who sent me to that god-awful restaurant; I’ll have no hesitation in punching him in the face…
I didn’t touch another wine book until later in 2004 whilst working at a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida (whose name shall remain anonymous as I was working “under the table” as my Green Card was still being processed). The book was called The Wine Avenger by Willie Gluckstern. I remember, my favorite line in the whole book being “Australia Sauvignon Blanc is for mutants!!!”
I have read my fair share of wine books, but I would have never gotten into wine if it hadn’t been for the Wine Avenger, so thanks for that Willie! If you’re looking at getting into wine, that book is the absolute best place to start!
I’ve seen every aspect of the Hospitality Industry that you can imagine, but the one thing I’ve taken from it is how very little is understood about wine by the “everyday drinker”. I personally spent 2 years at College, and 3 years at University intensely studying the Restaurant and Hotel Industry, and in 5 years we had a total of 2 lecture hours devoted to the subject of wine. Upon leaving University, I could tell you that red wine was to be served warm, white wine cold, and that was about it…
I’ve also observed the funniest thing happens to some people when they drink wine. They seem to want to hold the tiniest amount of knowledge over the heads of other people. I can’t think of too many other areas of society where this is a prevalent. I sometimes think people forget that the original reason wine was created back in 6000 BC was because it tastes good, and it gets you drunk! (On a side-note, as you start reading more and more on the subject of wine, and familiarizing yourself with the terms and labels, you’ll start realizing that the self-declared “wine snobs” are always the people that know the least amount about wine! Weird how that happens…)
I’ve read (and continue to read) the majority of wine magazines, and a vast number of wine blogs (of which there are 1000’s). The main problem I’ve always had with the wine mags specifically, is that unless you already have a fairly extensive level of wine knowledge, the reviews are absolutely useless! I also don’t personally believe in waxing poetic about all the different subtleties that I taste in a wine; likewise I also don’t wish to be told what I taste! My palate is very different from your palate, and if I’m going to tell or be told anything about a wine, I would much more prefer to deal with the grapes, vineyards, climate, winemaker and even the marketing that has influenced what you actually taste in a wine.
I created this website in order to give people the resource I never had going through my wine career: an unpretentious, user-friendly, fun, interactive guide to the world of wine.
This is just the beginning…
Kris Chislett
Certified Sommelier and Certified Specialist of Wine
kris@blogyourwine.com.