Chefs in the wine cellar

What do chefs do on their nights off? Go to wine class, of course. At least, that's what Paul Gayler, John Williams and Andrew Bennett have done. These three top London chefs - at the Lanesborough, Claridge's and Sheraton Park Tower hotels respectively - decided that the time had come to learn more about wine.

"We're doing more and more wine dinners, where we have to match up the wine with the food, and we always have to turn to our sommelier. And I get invited to tastings all the time, but I didn't use to go, because I didn't want to look like a bloody fool. So I said, ‘C'mon lads, let's do a wine course,'" declares Gayler.

They chose the Wine & Spirit Education Trust's Intermediate Certificate course, which runs one night a week for 10 weeks and costs £269 per person. "Believe me, getting Thursday nights off to do this was difficult, but we decided to make the time. It's very important for chefs to know about wine - more than ever these days," says Gayler.

In fact, Gayler is full of it. I spoke to him the morning after the final exam (multiple choice, with 50 questions to answer, ranging from ‘In which region is the C"te d'Or?' to ‘What is the building called in which sherry is aged?').

"Andy said he was more nervous doing this than doing a demo in front of 300 chefs," giggles Gayler. "But I got quite into it. And I revised hard - I like to give 100% to things."

When, exactly? "I'd get in at 6am and grab a half-hour, or start reading at the end of the evening. Sometimes I'd fall asleep with the book in my lap. And we tested each other all the time - we had fun with it," says Gayler, who is buying up every wine book he can lay his hands on and keeping his ISO tasting glasses polished in readiness for the next class.

"I can't wait until I've got to the stage when I can go into a restaurant and order the right wine to go with a dish," he says, wistfully. And, it appears, he will get to that stage in the not-too-distant future. The boys are signing up for the Advanced Certificate next term - assuming that they pass the first exam (the results are out in six weeks).

"And why stop after that? I might go as far as I can with this. I'm seriously considering doing my diploma, and why not study for the Master of Wine, too? There are already a couple of chefs who are Masters of Wine," says Gayler.

"We're looking at wine completely differently now. I did a Thai meal at home for some mates recently and I chose some Alsace Gewurztraminer to go with it when I would have bought any old Chardonnay before. It's so fascinating - how different soils affect the wine's flavour and how sherry is made, etc."

Gayler reckons that his new-found knowledge has also helped him in the kitchen. "It's improved my taste-buds. We cracked up the first time we heard someone in class saying that a wine smelled like asparagus, but now we can smell all sorts in wine - from tobacco to vanilla."