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Table for Four

Gary Barlow & Olly Smith

19 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What do Gary Barlow and Olly Smith discuss over dinner?

0.031 - 2.895 Gary Barlow

I got home and my missus went, you stink.

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4.397 - 15.354 Joanna Page

I do have to say that we are huge fans of Charlie and Lola in the house. I've got a four-year-old beau and she absolutely loves it. Her favourite one is the one about tomatoes. I think I wrote that one.

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15.494 - 19.66 Gary Barlow

Oh my gosh, really? Writing is now. It happens in life.

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19.64 - 22.204 Mathew Horne

Hi, welcome to Table for Four with me, Matthew Horne.

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22.345 - 23.547 Joanna Page

And me, Joanna Page.

23.727 - 29.617 Mathew Horne

Every episode, we'll be chatting to celebrity duos to delve into their relationship over a slap-up meal.

29.858 - 42.259 Joanna Page

And today, we have got a bona fide national treasure and his good friend, one of the top wine experts in the UK, it's only Gary Barlow and Ollie Smith. Come in, boys!

42.279 - 42.66 Mathew Horne

Come in, guys.

42.64 - 52.697 Joanna Page

So nice to see you. How are you doing? Very well. How are you? Very good. There we go, you can sit there.

Chapter 2: How did Gary Barlow and Olly Smith first meet?

172.999 - 173.379 Joanna Page

Is it really?

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173.399 - 174.16 Ollie Smith

Yeah, it's that good.

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174.3 - 176.302 Joanna Page

And so is this Sam Neill's wine?

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176.322 - 178.685 Ollie Smith

Yeah, it is. Big Sam's wine. Oh, I see.

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179.085 - 179.145

Oh.

179.125 - 185.552 Ollie Smith

Yes, it's fantastic. South Island of New Zealand. He's out there when he's not working, working on his wine.

185.932 - 194.421 Gary Barlow

And just for a bit more info, Ollie, just give us the reason why Pinot Noir in the cold regions.

195.162 - 212.963 Ollie Smith

It loves a bit of cold. I mean, if you get it in too much of a hot place, it just turns into like a stew of strawberries. It's all jammy. Too fruity. It's too fruity. And you want that little bit of... Yeah, it's a red wine that's light on its feet and it's got good acidity and freshness. But you always want it to have that balance of fruit and zing.

213.083 - 220.641 Ollie Smith

You know, almost like a thing like cranberries. It's that pop that keeps you kind of lively and gets your palate like it's dancing the tango. That's what you want in a peanut butter. Wow.

Chapter 3: What wine is featured in this episode and why is it special?

237.696 - 238.798 Mathew Horne

It's a cider.

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239.673 - 261.533 Gary Barlow

So I hear. Sounds like an old girlfriend. So just to add one more thing, we're very boring, by the way, so tell us to stop. But it's the reason why probably if I was to put money anywhere into wine, the UK, because of what's happening with climate change, is probably the next big place for Pinot Noir.

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261.553 - 276.871 Ollie Smith

It It's true. It's absolutely true. Pinot Noir, especially there's a place in Essex called the Crouch Valley and some of the Pinot Noir there that I've tasted, it rivals honestly some of the most prestigious top labels in the whole world. That's amazing. Absolutely, you know, stacks of cash right here in the UK. I couldn't be prouder of it.

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276.891 - 287.584 Mathew Horne

Presumably anywhere in the Gulf Stream, sort of in Northern Europe, the contrast between the warm air of the Gulf Stream and cold winters would be good as well.

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287.564 - 299.084 Ollie Smith

Yeah, marginal climates for kind of stuff like Pinot Noir. Brilliant. Up in New York, the Finger Lakes as well. And actually Scandinavia, there's increasing, you know, people are looking at it. There's a little bit, but I think in the future there might be quite a bit.

299.705 - 303.753 Mathew Horne

So your interest in wine, did it start before you met Ollie?

304.374 - 307.8 Gary Barlow

A couple of days before I met Ollie, I got interested in wine.

307.82 - 308.02

Thank you.

308 - 311.224 Ollie Smith

48 hours of like, yeah, she'd probably, yeah, gin up, yeah.

Chapter 4: Why is Pinot Noir significant in the wine world?

354.241 - 356.284 Gary Barlow

It tastes good, I'll have that, put it in a case.

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356.304 - 359.869 Joanna Page

So when you're like, you know, choosing stuff, is it basically, what do I like?

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360.049 - 380.278 Gary Barlow

Exactly. Yeah, totally. Because what I wanted to bring, we've talked about this a lot. You know, from starting a wine brand, what you're trying to do is let your audience in on what your taste is. You know, I've been around the world. I've been to many fantastic places. This is my experience I'm bringing to it.

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380.258 - 386.653 Gary Barlow

And then, so I wanted it to be my taste, very affordable and as sustainable as we could do it.

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387.675 - 406.954 Ollie Smith

And they started out and they, I remember the red, especially that Spanish red, you know, blew my socks off. I think it was in Morrison's for like eight quid or something like that. And it was a genuine delight. I mean, thank goodness. Thank goodness it was. It was a moment. But it's a thing. I think I agree with you. It should be accessible. It should feel informal. It should feel fun.

407.535 - 412.103 Ollie Smith

And if you have put your name on it, I think it absolutely should represent everything that you are, including your taste.

412.243 - 419.715 Mathew Horne

I guess for you, Gary, it's more authentic if it is things you actually like, you know, it comes from that place, you know.

419.695 - 446.091 Gary Barlow

Yeah, I think for anyone who sort of diversifies into an area that isn't why people know them, I always say don't think that it's just a spin-off that they don't care about. They're probably more serious than the normal people would be because they want it to be right and they want to do something that's good and authentic.

446.071 - 458.21 Gary Barlow

And, you know, the one thing I love about talking to Ollie is, and this is the reason I do the wine show, is to try and take the snobbery out of wine. Because people are quite scared of wine. Oh, I don't know anything about it.

Chapter 5: How does Gary Barlow balance music and wine?

744.974 - 751.909 Ollie Smith

What will really go with it? So, yeah, tailor it to that. Is it the same for food? Because I always wonder about chefs. Yeah.

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751.929 - 753.773 Gary Barlow

Often chefs are not that good with wine.

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753.753 - 767.644 Ollie Smith

It's so true. And I think it's because there's so much of it. And it does take a long time to get to know it all. But I mean, I started pretty young. I got a job in a wine shop when I was a teenager. That was my job from school in the holidays and the weekends. And I loved it. I just saw all these boxes with the names on it from all over the world.

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768.045 - 779.905 Ollie Smith

And I had a really cracking kind of mentor in the cellar with me. I was the delivery boy, basically. And he was called Eamon, and he was an Irish retired publican. And he said to me, it's not about you telling them this is the best wine in the world.

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779.925 - 796.787 Ollie Smith

It's about you listening to each individual person, finding out what they love, and then recommending something at the price that's going to go with their dinner, that they're going to really delight in specifically to them. That's the ticket. And I thought, he's right. It's about flipping it around. It's not about saying, I'm the big I am. This is the wine to have.

796.807 - 809.665 Ollie Smith

It's about the person in front of you. And I've never forgotten that. And I guess that's because he was a publican. And he always thought about, well, you know, what's Gary's regular? What's your, what do you have? And it was about that. And so, yeah, I had a schooling in, you know, and the language of it as well.

809.685 - 824.865 Ollie Smith

Because as you go from Spain to France to Italy, Germany, you know, you've got to kind of learn the pronunciation. He was brilliant at that as well. He was really helpful. So I owe him a lot. It was back in that day. Everyone else thought I was crazy, you know, teenager drinking wine. All my mates were on the ciders and the beers. My parents didn't drink wine either.

824.925 - 833.975 Ollie Smith

I mean, they're massive lushes now. But yeah, back in the day, they were not into it at all. You know, I'd go home and go, oh, you should really try this Cabernet Sauvignon. We can edit that out if you need to.

834.015 - 836.077 Gary Barlow

He makes you want to drink it though, doesn't he?

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