When Tara Ozols moved to London from New York City in 2014, she knew almost no one. Thinking to herself “everyone likes wine,” she started working in a wine shop as a way to meet people.
Although she had worked in hospitality, wine wasn’t something Ozols knew a lot about. Working in Oddbins the wine bug hit and after taking a couple of WSET exams, she plunged headfirst into the “somm life”, applying for a job at two-starred Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley. She remembers it as a really exciting time for wine in London with “such cool wines…Pierre Ménard, Selosse’s Climax project, Christian Tschida,” and loved what Head Sommelier Michael Deschamp was doing at the restaurant, working with Newcomer Wines and natural wines.
Ozols admits that coming into that first job unable to even pronounce half the wines on the list, never mind understand where they were from, “and god forbid understand Burgundy,” was tough. She had to buckle down and learn a lot quickly, and Deschamp was a key mentor for her: “he always told me to taste, taste, taste…keep tasting and keep defining your palate and understanding what you like, rather than what you’re told to like”.
After a couple of years working the long hours that a two-star restaurant demands, Ozols took a break from service to work for a small import company. She then moved into a buying role for Whole Foods in Piccadilly to learn more, because “you have to get into the spreadsheets at some point as a somm!” Focusing on the craft beer, spirits and wine selections for the US company was where Ozols rediscovered Californian wines: “after studying European wines for so long it was such a joy to bring back California into my life”.
In such a frame of mind, Ozols jumped at the chance to head up the Californian-led wine programme at SOLA in Soho with chef patron Victor Garvey. It was while working at SOLA that Ozols won her Michelin Sommelier Award in 2023, and she reflects how happy she was that Michelin recognised her somewhat more relaxed approach to being a sommelier.
That approach is something that she has taken to her current position at 1 Hotel. When then Wine Director Oliver Espersen took her on, the goal was to break the view of sommeliers as “stoic, unapproachable, not fun, or cool,” Ozols says, “when I present wine, I like it to be approachable”.
When she found out 1 Hotel was coming to London, she was excited to be involved: “1 Hotel is like a beacon of cool glory in America.” The eco focus of the hotel was also something that was important to her, and with Tom Sellers lined up as chef at Dovetale, it was a “no-brainer” for her. When Espersen moved up to Assistant Food & Beverage Director, Ozols became Wine Director. It was always the goal, and something she is very proud of: “I’m in love with my programme here, and really proud to be part of 1 Hotel”.
Both the hotel and restaurant have won multiple accolades including a Wine Spectator award, AA awards, and the one Ozols calls “the highlight of my life”, the Star Wine List gold award for California Wine List in 2025. She describes the list as “a sprinkling of classic verticals” but also some “cooler” and lesser-known wines, always with an organic, sustainable focus in line with the ethos of the hotel.
This year Ozols added Star Wine List silver for best Spanish Wine List to the list of awards. A lifelong affinity for Spain and Spanish culture has now expanded to include a winery project, Bodegas Todos, in Gran Canaria, somewhere Ozols calls her “happy place”.
Looking ahead, Ozols sees this year as the time to consolidate the wine list, while adding some more approachable options for savvy consumers looking for value. “I just want guests drinking,” Ozols says, “I want guests to enjoy themselves and feel good about their selections”.
A new wine bar, Neighbours by Night, has just been opened in the hotel. A café by day and wine bar by night, the idea is to provide a cosy, low-key space for guests who don’t want the full bar or restaurant experience and a weekly revolving list of “off-piste wines by the glass for a tenner”.
Another space doing double duty is Nightingale, also a café which will act as an events space for the new ‘Meet the Maker’ series of casual wine tasting events, starting with Realm from Napa Valley. Nightingale is also the setting for Ozols’ women in wine lunches. Now in its third year, the initiative was started by the hotel marketing team to celebrate her. Ozols wants to celebrate women and “who we are and what we’re doing, more than where we work”. This year La Grande Dame was flowing, a brand Ozols works with as an ambassador, viewing Madame Clicquot as the original inspiration for women in wine.
Wine Fairy Wish
If a wine fairy granted a wish to try any wine, Ozols would love to try the first wine that really made an impact on her at the age of 21 or 22, kickstarting a love for Riesling: V. Sattui Off-Dry Johannisberg Riesling 2004. “I thought I was so cool for drinking that, I’d love to know what Tara now, with my palate now, would think of it!”
For all the awards, the winery project, and the ambassador roles, Ozols remains adamant she will remain in service: “I want to be part of it, I want to see what guests want. I always want to be part of the floor.” She laughs, “I’m a busy person…it’s in my blood, I thrive in organised chaos.” But ask her how she juggles so much and the answer is simple: “when you love something so much, I don’t feel it’s work, it’s a joy.”
