Coach, pundit, maybe even pub landlord, all normal professions for footballers once they retire. But Leicester City Captain, Matt Oakley, is not your average footballer. Intelligent and considered, the former England Under-21 international formed Nebuchadnezzar Wines Ltd in 1999, with expert, Barry Skarin, whilst starring for his first club, Southampton.

Soar Magazine took an exclusive, behind the scenes tour of Vinotheque in Burton, where Oakley’s wine collection is stored, to discuss the midfielder’s unconventional passion…

“I thought I had a knowledge of wine, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. Even now, I talk about wine, but Barry is on another level and is able to discuss why certain flavours come out in wines and what food it goes well with.”

Oakley met Skarin after asking a chef to recommend a restaurant for Sunday lunch. The then Saints maestro was directed to The Greyhound in Stockbridge and was surprised when Skarin prevented the young, impressionable midfielder from splashing his cash.

“I asked him about a particular bottle of wine that I recognised and liked, but he advised me to try another that was half the price and better quality. It was so unusual, as a footballer, that someone was stopping me from spending money. We got talking and he spoke about his love for Fulham Football Club and his passion for wine. Things went from there and we began to buy en primeur, enjoying wine ourselves, whilst making great returns on our investment.”

For the wine novices, en primeur is a process of purchasing a particular vintage of wine, whilst in the barrel, prior to being bottled. This method offers the investor an opportunity to buy at a cheaper price, usually a year or 18 months before the vintage is made public and can yield good financial returns at a later date.

This initial investment offered Oakley the chance to enjoy fine wines, whilst making steady business progress and before long the organisation became a serious concept.

“Barry was working in the restaurant trade, but he didn’t want to do that full-time, so we set up the business. He concentrates on the investment side, whilst I’m playing. We also have our own restaurant in Hertfordshire. We’re starting to blog more about the wines, so it’s easier for people to pick out one they like from us, or something they’d like to buy as a present for a friend.”

With offices in the Business Design Centre in Islington and two sales staff on board, Nebuchadnezzar Wines has evolved, offering the cultured Oakley an alluring and stimulating second career away from the beautiful game.

“The industry is so interesting. I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to places like the Napa Valley in California, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and across Europe. This business was only fashioned from a desire to taste the best wines, but now it’s given me an opportunity beyond football and I can provide for my family after I retire.”

That pragmatic approach is something that the City skipper is keen to pass on to younger footballers, which he does in his role as the judicious, elder statesman of the Belvoir Drive Training Ground.

“It’s not a criticism of footballers in general, but when you’re young and you get a decent contract, often you can be swept away with it. I had an Aston Martin at Southampton when I was 21, but you think then that the money is endless and you’re just having fun. The old pros would say to me ‘enjoy it son, you’ll be old soon’, but now it’s me in that position, advising younger players to look after their finances and think of the future.”

With over £180million worth of wine housed within Vinotheque’s 200,000 square feet, the sheer scale of investment in the wine industry is difficult to communicate through words. Despite Nebuchadnezzar’s impressive returns, the company’s collection is just a small part of the vast array of wine residing within four floors of Vinotheque, with an astounding 450,000 cases within the building.

“We’ve probably got, in value, just under £1million worth of wine here, and then we’ve got the private clients’ wine worth around £4million. The en primeur that we’ve got will take around two years from now to be tasted and rated, prior to being added to people’s portfolios.

“There are two main places to store, either at Octavian Wine Vaults or here at Vinotheque. We dealt with LCB (London City Bonds) and Vinotheque is the fine wine side of LCB and we’ve been bonding here ever since. It just so happened that this is in Burton and not long after I moved to play for Derby County.”

Beyond Oakley’s love of wine and the industry in general, there is real financial sense in his venture.

“It’s alright investing in your own property, but people get involved in property portfolios and if you make a profit, you only end up giving money back to the tax man. As wine is considered as a wastable asset, it is tax-free.”

There are some serious investments to be made too. For example, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the best Burgundy available in Matt’s opinion, with bottles numbered one to twelve, is valued at approximately £150,000 per six-pack. With such significance housed within Vinotheque, security is monitored by a 24 hour CCTV system and email alerts are sent to staff immediately if any movement outside of the building is registered.

Meticulous care is taken over the handling and storage of the wine, with four fans on each wall and 28 in the roof, ensuring that the temperature inside the building remains between 10-16 degrees. No drastic changes in temperature are allowed, either, which also protects the wine.

That level of detail highlights the complexity of the industry, with most footballers advised to invest their earnings elsewhere, as Oakley explains.

“People don’t tend to know a great deal about wine. The hardest thing is gaining trust and getting people to invest in wine. Yet we have advisors coming in to our training ground, trying to get footballers to buy places in Cyprus or Marbella and the returns are so poor. Even they are blown away by the returns we can offer.”

Approaching his 500th appearance in professional football, Oakley has seen a great deal in a 16-year career spanning spells at Southampton, Derby County and Leicester City. The modern game is almost unrecognisable from the version that he joined in 1994. Given his proximity to alcohol, what is his view on previous stereotypes of a football drinking culture?

“It used to exist and that’s why footballers back in the 70s or 80s owned pubs and nightclubs. Now, you only have to pick up the paper to read about modern footballers like Gareth Bale or James Milner stating that they don’t drink. There’s definitely a shift in the mentality.

“I remember that Arsenal began the trend of not drinking when Arsene Wenger arrived. Players like Tony Adams and Paul Merson had been to rehab and Wenger changed the drinking culture at the club. When I was at Southampton, there was uproar when they stopped serving alcohol in the players’ bar, but that was a sign of how football was changing.”

With such a wealth of experience within the upper echelons of the game, it is clear that the 33-year-old Oakley has so much left to offer the game that has given him so much. Consequently, his desire to expand a developing wine portfolio may just have to be put on hold a little longer, as this wily old Fox has the scent for one last taste of the Premier League.

For more information on Nebuchadnezzar Wines visit www.nezzar.com