Hugh Johnson describes him as "the charismatic leader of the English wine trade for almost all of the first half of the 20th century, and the grand old man of literate connoisseurship for a further 20 years".
[1] This all came to an end in the war of 1914–18, which saw him spend four years in the French Artillery, first as a regimental postman, and later as a liaison officer with the British.
[1] However, on 20 September 1931 Britain came off the gold standard, sterling crashed against the French franc, and Simon found himself unable to pay Pommery for his stock.
[2] On 23 October 1931, Simon and a group of friends held a dinner in honour of Professor George Saintsbury, author of the classic Notes on a Cellar Book.
[3] His great friend Symons died of a brain haemorrhage on 26 August 1941, and Simon took over control of the Society from that point.
[1] Despite living in England most of his life, he remained a French citizen[1] and was an Officier de la Légion d'Honneur as well as a CBE.
[1] As a Frenchman, his English prose was heavily influenced by the man who gave him his first break in writing – A. S. Gardiner of the Wine Trade Review.
[1] Simon once described a wine as "a girl of fifteen, who is already a great artist, coming on tip-toe and curtseying herself out with childish grace and laughing blue eyes.