After twenty years in the UK wine and spirit trade he was appointed managing director of Outdoor Advertising East Europe and came to live in Budapest from 1992-1997, frequently visiting the Hungarian wine regions and getting to know the top winemakers. He was an active member of the Budapest Wine Society and the Zsuzsanna Lórantffy Wine and Food Society. In 1997 he organized a visit for the leading Villány growers to the top Bordeaux chateaux. <br><br>

As a regular columnist for Budapest Business Journal and as a contributor to Decanter Hungary he kept in regular touch with emerging winemakers. Since leaving Hungary he has re-visited four or five times a year to visit the wine regions.

A graduate in European Humanities David Copp was trained at Procter and Gamble and held senior wine trade marketing appointments in the UK before coming to Hungary. From 1995-96 he was Senior Tutor at The Budapest Marketing Academy. He reads Hungarian history and literature and enjoys visiting its greatest vineyards.

1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here?
First came to Budapest in 1991 to see what the other half of Europe looked like.

2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere?
I lived in France for two years. One year as a student at La Sorbonne one year working in the wine trade in Bordeaux Burgundy and Champagne. I also lived in West Africa for 2 years in the army. I had a great job as a platoon commander and i/c battalion sport.

3. What surprised you most about Hungary?
On my first visit to Hungary I was surprised at the physiology of the people and the language they spoke. They were so different from the rest of Europe. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more. My wife and I stayed on Margit Island and took water taxis downtown. We enjoyed walking along the Corso on the warm summer nights, loved the vigor of life and the strains of gypsy music.

4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend--what must they absolutely see and do?
Castle Hill Fisherman's Wharf St Matthias Museum and Art Gallery for Munkácsy. St. Stephen s Basilica a truly great church beautifully renovated and sited Gundel a great institution Not musts but the statue park, Széchényi baths, and riding the Millenium underground to Heroes square and dining at Gundel would give first time visitors a good insight into some aspects of Hungarian life and history.

5. What is your favorite Hungarian food?
In the cold winters there is nothing like a really good Hungarian goulash. I love the Hungarian bread made from the finest wheat.

6. What is never missing from your refrigerator?
I keep white wine in the fridge but take it out 10/15 minutes before serving because I don't like it over chilled. In Hungary I would have Otto Légli's best Olaszrizling, Monarchia's Irsai Olivér and István Szepsy's and János Arany's late harvest wines from Tokaj. I would not mind starting each day with a small glass of Eszencia from Pajzos, Royal Tokaj or Disznokõ nor would I object to finishing it with a great Tokaji aszú.

7. What is your favorite Hungarian word?
Bocsánat. It amuses me onomatopoeically....... something like that anyway.

8. What do you miss the most from home?
I miss my family I have a wonderful wife, five children and eleven grandchildren and I love them all.

9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
With no hesitant whatsoever I would love to be a film director. If I could be 1/100th as good as David Lean I would be quite pleased.

10. What’s a job you would definitely never want?
I would not like to have to have my elbows in grease all day I did fatigues in the army and I can definitely think of better things to do than wash huge greasy pans all day.

11. Where did you spend your last vacation?
Our last holiday was spent in Umbria. The highlights were visits to Florence, Siena, Assisi and Montepulciano.

12. Where do you hope to spend your next one?
Our next holiday will be spent walking 400 kilometers to Santiago de Compostela.

13. What was your favorite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
As a teen I liked the Dutch College Swing Band and later Sidney Becket and Benny Goodman comedy films such as The Lavender Hill Mob with Peter Sellers and Some Like It Hot with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis directed by a Hungarian * George Czukor I think. My main hobby as a teen was cricket. I was mad about the game. When I started my own sports marketing business I represented Vive Richards one of the all time greats At 16 I also loved rugby and l captained the Army rugby team in Africa.

14. What can’t you resist?
I find it quite difficult to resist really fine food and wine.

15. Red wine or white?
I am a red wine drinker but also enjoy fresh white wines and treats such as great White Burgundy, Champagne and István Szepsy s Dry Furmint from Szent Tamás.

16. Book or movie?
I love good books and good films Under the Frog had me in stitches.

17. Morning person or night person?
I like being up early because I find I can concentrate better and get more done.

18. Dog person or cat person?
The family had a Labrador and many friends seem to have them. They are intelligent and friendly dogs.

19. Buda side or Pest side?
I lived in Pest in Akadémia utca and had an office in Vécsey utca and later in Balzac utca however I was one of the first to get out of the city in the hot summer months. I headed for Balaton at the crack of dawn every Saturday.

20. What would you say is your personal motto?
The Latin expression Carpe Diem and even the translated one Seize the Day is one I have kept in mind It helps me avoid procrastination. It also reminds me that we never know when we shall be called.

His new book is stocked at Bestsellers, Bortársaság and Culinaris. Hungary, Its Fine Wines and Winemakers