Philippe’s little wine shop in Bath Place Taunton sells you bottles of wine over which you can share memories

This quote offers an insight into how people view wine not just as a drink to have with a meal but as a drink with which they associate memories of people, occasions and happier times.

A lot of us enjoy drinking wine but are completely out of our depth when it comes to wanting to be a wine connoisseur.

We drink what we think will be good but have no real knowledge of the breadth and scope.

We do not know which wines could offer us a better taste as we do not know where to look or where to find them.

If all the knowledge independent trader Philippe Messy possesses about wine could be put in bottles then he would have a wine shop.

And this is exactly what he does have and it is called The Little Wine Shop in Bath Place in Taunton.

Neither the shop sign nor any of the bottles of wine in the window will tell you just how much knowledge Philippe has built up in a career which has seen him working with British chef, restaurateur, and television personality Marco Pierre White and Oliver Peyton who opened the world famous Atlantic Bar & Grill in London and is a Great British Menu judge.

Philippe who has been in Taunton since 2011, is a former head sommelier who has worked for a private wine collector in Asia who flew him out every six weeks to look after his impressive wine collection.

Philippe’s passion for wine started as a young lad when he was living with his family in a village called Ayzie in the French Alps.

They lived next door to a vineyard and as he was the same age as the grandchildren of the vineyard owner, he was invited to get involved in helping to bring in and make the wine.

Even if he did not know it at that age he was fascinated by the craftsmanship of making and producing wine.

This wonderment was the catalyst for Philippe spending five years at catering school.

Three of these years were how to be a waiter and work in a restaurant and two years being trained as a sommelier.

This was a prestigious college as 756 people applied for 15 places.

There was an interview in English and a wine tasting test.

Philippe said: “The idea was not necessarily to get the wine right.

"It was more to see your motivation and to see your thought patterns. It was looking at your logic for coming up with your answers, rather than saying it is this wine and it comes from this vineyard.

"To do this is a bit nerdy as there is greater pleasure from wine when you have it with food.

"My advice to people would be to drink less but drink more quality.

"If your budget is £30 a week then stick to it and but buy more expensive quality like three bottles at £10 or four at £7 rather than six bottles at £5 each.

"If you buy wine between £7.50/£8 then you will get a good bottle.”

After leaving college he went to Gravetye Manor, West Sussex where he worked as a sommelier.

and worked his way up to a head sommelier.

This then lead him to start working for Marco Pierre White in 1991 when he the chef only had one restaurant called Harvey’s.

Philippe worked for Marco for five and a half years and left when Harvey’s gained its third Michelin star.

He said: “There was pressure but we were all going forward in the same direction.

"It meant working a 17 hours day, six days a week. I learnt a lot and I learnt discipline.

“You have got to push yourself all the time, you have got to be consistent but that goes with the pressure.”

After working with Marco, Philippe went to work with Oliver Peyton (now a judge on the Great British Menu) when he had three/four restaurants - one of them being the Atlantic Bar & Grill in London.

This was the best bar in the world for four years on a trot.

Philippe said: “Oliver pushed me to be quirky. He told me he wanted to open an Italian restaurant and wanted the best Italian wine list in the world.

He sent me to Italy 16 times to lean all about Italian wine.

He certainly helped me become more creative.

“What was exhilarating was being part of a team and to be part of it when Oliver was opening new restaurants.”

When he left Oliver, between 2003-2007 he worked as a partner for two restaurants and then worked for a private individual in Asia.

Then in 2011, Philippe came to Taunton and open up The Little Wine Shop in Bath Place.

Explaining the reasons behind the change of life, Philippe said: “I achieved what I did at a young age. I was working for a three star Michelin restaurant when I was 24 years old, this normally comes at the end of a career.

“Now I am enjoying giving people excellent customer service The reward is when people keep coming back or for me when I find a little gem which I can then share with customers.

“Memoires are created when you share a bottle of wine with friends.”