Dick Bowes MW (legal name Richard) was born in Oporto in 1932, to a father who spent his whole career working in the port trade. After Rugby School, National Service in Cyprus and Egypt, Richard went up to Oxford, where he competed in the annual tasting match against Cambridge. In 1955 he joined W&A Gilbey Ltd – known as ‘Wine Merchants to the People’, where he was principally engaged in quality control. This – clearly – was a great way to pass the MW exam, which he did in 1966. Gil...
