Sophie Lord
Speciality
WinesCompany
Virgin Wines
Position
Head of Wine Buying
Sophie Lord has long been a rising star within Virgin Wines, and in 2023 she was recognised with a prestigious Decanter award – Wine Buyer of The Year. Described by one Decanter judge as “a great role model” for those working in the wine trade, Sophie has had quite the journey to reach this point in her career. She joined the Virgin Wines customer services department 17 years ago at the young age of 22. She had no knowledge of wine, other than she liked drinking it! She soon moved into a new role as one of our wine advisors, where she worked for many years spending her time chatting to customers and introducing them to wines they’d love. Progressing through Wine & Spirit Education Trust qualifications in her spare time, Sophie worked extremely hard to expand her wine expertise so she could give the best advice to her customers as possible. Ever the team player, Sophie went on to become our very own inhouse WSET teacher, empowering Virgin Wines staff in every team across the business to gain their own wine qualifications, all the while continuing her exams and studies alongside this eventually graduating with her WSET Level 4 diploma. When a role came up in the buying department Sophie seemed like an obvious choice and quickly worked her way up to our Head of Buying, overseeing the entire department. She now travels the world sourcing quality wines and working closely with winemakers to create exclusive blends for Virgin Wines customers.
