Wine to 5: Ella Lister, strategic consulting & wine media CEO

As founder and CEO of Wine Lister, Ella Lister is a strategy consultant to the world’s leading wineries, from Château Lafite to Ornellaia, and she also runs the wine division at Le Figaro, tasting and scoring thousands of wines each year for the French newspaper. She is a Commandeur du Bontemps in Bordeaux and a Chevalier du Tastevin in Burgundy.

How did you get here?

Via a rather idiosyncratic path: modern languages at the University of Oxford, then mergers and acquisitions, before seeing the light and realising it was possible to work in wine. I was a wine journalist for 10 years (writing for Decanter, among other titles), during which time I merged my passion for wine with my financial background and created Wine Lister in 2016.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Combining so many of my passions and skills: wine, languages, media, data and business. But most of all, getting to know and earning the trust of many of the world’s most gifted winemakers, and getting to drink their wines.

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

That wine tasting is one big jolly. It’s actually hard work tasting 150 en primeur reds or acidic Champagnes in one day. But I still love it (even when my teeth complain).

Your greatest moment, professionally?

I’m amazed and proud in equal measure to have created a company worthy of acquisition by the French media giant Le Figaro, in 2020, and over the moon to bag my dream