Shortly after his arrival in London, Philip met Francis at a wine tasting event and a friendship formed (nothing to do with the wine they say), which has grown over the eighteen years that Philip has helped out at Taste of the Vine. Philip has also travelled all of the classical wine regions (such as Champagne, Burgundy, the Rhône and Bordeaux), as well as those lesser known, including Morocco and Tunisia. The last two of which were with Francis and feature in his book In and out of Africa.