Since graduating with a mechanical engineering degree, Sunny Hodge has combined science and hospitality in his career in wine. The award-winning founder and owner of Diogenes the Dog in Elephant and Castle and aspen & meursault in Battersea, Hodge pushes his wine bars outside the norm to showcase unconventional wines. He is an annual judge for the IWSC awards and has written for a number of publications such as The Guardian. His book, The Cynic’s Guide to Wine, came out on 31 March 2025, stripping back complex and mysterious language to provide an answer to any questions a wine novice might need answered.
How long have you been writing about wine?
I started writing when I opened Diogenes the Dog in Elephant and Castle in 2018. Initially it was just wine content for the bar, socials, online shop, and marketing. Being the sole owner, operator, marketing person, handyman and chief cleaning officer meant wearing multiple hats!
What’s the oldest wine you’ve ever tasted, and what was it like?
On the topic of memory, frustratingly it's not my strong point. It's something I've suffered with since a kid, and had it recently checked out by professionals; neurologists put the condition down to an issue with my hippocampus. Oldest wines, faces, holidays, lunch, yesterday, they all end up in the proverbial Recycle Bin. A severe disability in wine and hospitality circles, but also a blessing when it comes to out-of-the-box thinking. Hence the urge to understand how things work rather than rely on what has once been told.
If you had to drink wine from one region for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?
I promise you I won’t skirt another question. Yet, the more I learn about wine, and the science of how it comes to be, the less I dwell on place. I put a huge importance on farming and winemaking practices, if I were to choose a wine based on the factors I personally care more for - I'd pick lower intervention wines as a life staple.
Who is/was your mentor?
My mum has always been my biggest inspiration to do more, do honest work, and live every moment to the fullest. She's moulded me to be who I am today and with that ethos I’ve ended up where I am, for better or for worse. As professional mentors go, Nicolas Jaouën of Margot unknowingly became my hospitality mentor through the beginnings of Diogenes the Dog. In wine, I've lost count of the individuals whom I rely on to learn and grow. Judging with the IWSC has proved a lifechanging opportunity where I’m surrounded by a pool of wine experts, operators, and friends whom I can develop with - huge respect and gratitude to Christelle Guibert for that opportunity.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I am a man of very little needs - my team, friends and family will vouch for that; with one exception. My Triumph Thruxton is a must have. I'm useless without the motorbike; she’s not just any motorbike she’s been my dream motorbike ever since I could remember (which I’m sure wasn’t that long ago). A sheer indulgence and she allows me to be anywhere in London in under 20mins come rain or shine.
What do you consider the most over-used word or phrase in wine writing?
Terroir — Read the book.
Which wine-tasting talent would you most like to have?
Memory.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
As a whole, developing the bars aspen & meursault and Diogenes the Dog to a place that I'm content with has been my most recent revelation. They're destination wine bars, have incredible teams, I still love being there 6 years on, and they've been received exceptionally well. It’s something I rarely think about, but when put on the spot, it’d have to be the bars in an overall sense of achievement. If we’re talking specifics, I’d say learning and successfully welding all the wine racks together is up there. One of the most monotonous and painstaking endeavours I’ve ever put myself through, and they’re still standing – touch wood.
What is your most treasured possession?
I use a shoelace as a belt. At first it was a skating habit (in case my rollerblade laces snapped). I feel naked without the shoelace or some waistline equivalent. Being on the move, always repairing things in life that fall apart — the waist shoelace proves invaluable for securing and keeping matters together.
Which fictional character would you love to share a bottle with?
Capt Virgil Hilts aka 'The Cooler King' played by Steve McQueen in the Great Escape. He's just an absolute badass.
Why did you write The Cynic’s Wine Guide?
I graduated from a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 and spent the rest of my working life in hospitality and wine. There came a point early on with wine, a place I’m sure we’ve all been before, where it stopped making sense. Sommeliers told incredible stories and sold exceptional wines; guests lapped it up yet understood little of what they had just purchased. There’s always been huge gap in our understanding of the WHY in wine. Both at expert and consumer level. We’re told that a Gewurztraminer smells of roses and lychee, and that Chablis tastes mineral because of the Kimmeridgian soil. They might, yet so few of us know why.
In Engineering you couldn’t get away with not knowing. If we are to inform guests that a Chablis tastes like it does because of the ‘Terroir’ — I’d want to know if we’re telling them the truth. The Cynic’s Guide to Wine is a +6 year compilation of the latest research across a huge scope of sciences that intersect with wine. I wrote this as a tool to assist us in knowing wine better and to question if the reality of what we’re all saying is indeed true!
It’s the book I needed to make sense of it all at the beginning of my wine journey, and a book that to this very day I keep close at hand to ensure I’m treading an accurate path.
