Each week Bristol Business News gives a prominent member of the city’s business community the last word on its weekly e-bulletin. This week Anton Mann, director of PORT O’BRISTOL by Xisto Wines, answers our 10 questions.
What was the last: 
Film you watched? Eddie the Eagle. I always had a lot of time for him as he’s a local hero, but I wasn’t prepared to feel properly emotional! He’s proof that you’ve just got to give it a go.
Book you read? Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky – or as my family call “that bloody fish book” – is one of my favourite books of all time and I’m always skimming it. It has taught me much through the years and I’ve even made good friends through a shared connection with it.
Music you bought/downloaded? Local band The Idles – absolutely love them. We went to see them in Porto recently with some of our friends who live there and it was amazing to see loads of Portuguese jumping around knowing all the words. Top-class act and there should be more bands like them.
Play you went to? The Dug Out at the Tobacco Factory, which was the story about an iconic Bristol club and all its crazy, interesting history.
Sporting event you attended? Man Utd vs Bristol City. I’m a life-long Bristol City fan and I heard the club had bought Man Utd’s then manager Jose Mourinho a bottle of his home country’s famous wine called Barca Velha, which is apparently also his favourite. As also a Portuguese wine importer, we’ve created a collaborative wine with Mateus Nicolas Almeida, the grandson of the man who made the Bacra Velha, and took a bottle down of that down for Mourinho – obviously we didn’t get to give it to him, so we had to drink it in celebration of City’s win instead!
Holiday you went on? We go to Portugal as a family a lot, but I always end up working so it’s not quite a holiday. The last real downtime we had was in Spain. We went to Cadiz to taste sherry and see flamenco in St Luca. Stunning.
Restaurant you ate in? Soul Kitchen in Bedminster. The food in there is amazing and we are lucky as we have one of their brilliant chefs in the family too!
Thing that annoyed you? Sheep!
Thing that made you laugh out loud? Probably my eldest daughter impersonating her teacher – in fact, she is impersonating everyone at the moment which is hilarious. My youngest is also a constant source of merriment. I’m a lucky man.
Piece of good advice you were given? Pretty much everyone in my life tells me I need to focus more – so I probably should focus more on that!
Anton Mann, pictured above left with Carlos Rufia from wine producer Casa de Darei, is the founder and co-director of PORT O’BRISTOL by Xisto Wines. Anton and his wife Lela McTernan-Mann are Bristol-based specialist Portuguese wine importers who bring artisan, natural wines from Portugal to the UK by sail cargo, which means they arrive here fossil fuel-free. A founding member of the Sail Cargo Alliance, PORT O’BRISTOL is hosting a free Portuguese festival with Pickle Bristol at Underfall Yard in honour of Bristol’s twin city Porto. Festa de Sao Joao do Porto will take place tomorrow and Sunday (June 22 and 23) from noon-8pm.
