So how does an Irish Catholic, a lover of Italy, Italian wine and Italian food, who is a solicitor representing most of the Italian community of Chesterfield become known as “Consigliere ” !!

Trust me I am honest and have never personally had anyone killed…but I do know a few Godfathers.

Chesterfield has a quite considerable Italian community essentially because of the mass immigration that occurred from Italy following the Second World War and because there was plenty for work in the Derbyshire area in the coal mines and the local huge chemical works. I came to work in the town some 30 years ago and as a result of my heritage went to the same Roman Catholic Church as many of my firm’s Italian clients and became known to them as a result.

One second-generation Italian youngster turned up on my doorstep with his girlfriend to buy his first house and I immediately developed a friendship with this bright street savvy fella who was clearly going places. Welcome to Martino Mainiero now married to the beautiful girlfriend Nicola. Over the time of our friendship we have moved on from a young salesman and a junior property solicitor to a successful business owner of Delitalia and a senior Commercial lawyer in Banner Jones probably the biggest regional law firm. We even swung a business trip to Vinitaly recently!

Martino has an infectious chuckle and a desire to be amusing and so, appreciating my work position and my passion for all things Italian, delighted in introducing me to his customers as “Consigliere”. The name stuck mainly because all of the customers did think it was funny to give your lawyer such a nickname.

My wife and I over the last 20 years have travelled extensively around Italy, Sardinia and Sicily and I usually come back with tips on food or wine that Martino will follow up on. The beauty of the Delitalia business is that they can work with any size of business from Italy if the product is good .Whilst I do enjoy my Italian food and the provenance that is generally associated with it my real passion is for wine and because I am also quite adventurous in my tastes I am regularly used as Martino’s wine guinea pig. When Martino suggested that I should taste and review officially three or four bottles of wine from Delitalia each month then I didn’t hesitate to accept.

It was an offer I could not refuse…

So my plan is to keep it simple ( unlike my young friend Joe Hurd who clearly wants to be the next AA Gill ) like a normal restaurant customer who is reasonably knowledgeable about the wine and also about where it’s comes from..

I am really looking forward to this journey.

Stephen Gordon – also known as ‘Consigliere SG’