Global Decanter started as a way to remember the wines I’ve enjoyed, the restaurants I’ve visited, and the experiences that stayed with me long after the bottle was empty or the table cleared. Mostly because after a few glasses of wine, I realised my memory probably shouldn’t be trusted on its own.

I’m Izzy and my background is a bit of a mix of things. I hold the Level 3 Award in Wines from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), alongside a degree in Modern Languages specialising in Japanese and culture. Since leaving university, I’ve worked across wine retail and hospitality, which taught me not only about wine itself, but about the people, traditions, and stories that surround it (and also how I don’t think working in a restaurant is for me).

What interests me most is how food and drink reflect place and culture. A wine list, a local bar, or a tiny restaurant hidden down a side street can tell you a lot about the people behind it. From Japanese izakayas to European wine bars, local cafes, I’m endlessly curious about how different cultures eat, drink, and celebrate.

This blog isn’t about wine snobbery or pretending I can detect “notes of a rare type of plum that can only be found in a tiny village in Romania.” It’s a personal record of bottles worth remembering, meals worth talking about, and places that made an impression for the right reasons (and occasionally the wrong ones).

At its core, Global Decanter is simply a place to document what I’ve tasted, where I’ve been, and what I’ve learned along the way. If nothing else, it’ll stop me forgetting the name of that one amazing wine bar I swore I’d remember forever.