Dinner with a Grand National winner
Not quite nil humanum a me alienum, but I have always been interested in other people’s trades and worlds. That…
Riders and diners
Not quite nil humanum a me alienum, but I have always been interested in other people’s trades and worlds. That…
The kindest man in the Bordeaux wine business
There was a moment during the war when De Gaulle was being more than usually impossible. Roosevelt, furious, asked Churchill…
A gentleman of Bordeaux
There was a moment during the war when De Gaulle was being more than usually impossible. Roosevelt, furious, asked Churchill…
On the trail of a Burgundian Holy Grail
It was a scene evoking the first movement of the Pastoral Symphony. The evening sunshine was caressing the verdant woods…
On the trail of a Holy Grail
It was a scene evoking the first movement of the Pastoral Symphony. The evening sunshine was caressing the verdant woods…
A thirst for justice: the wit and wisdom of Oliver Wendell Holmes
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, a great common lawyer, was an adornment to the American Supreme Court. His wisdom is still…
A thirst for Justice
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, a great common lawyer, was an adornment to the American Supreme Court. His wisdom is still…
The torturer named for a beautiful shrine
As you came from the Holy land Of Walsingham Met you not with my true love By the way as…
The grim irony of Walsingham
As you came from the Holy land Of Walsingham Met you not with my true love By the way as…
The perfect wines to toast the end of the hunting season
A few years ago, a distinguished cove in the diplomatic service was made High Commissioner to Australia. To prepare himself…
Game show
A few years ago, a distinguished cove in the diplomatic service was made High Commissioner to Australia. To prepare himself…
The fighting spirit of the Borders comes a posh wine merchant
There has been a gastronomic revolution in London. For some years, the Boisdale restaurants, often mentioned here, have featured Macsween’s…
Border spirit
There has been a gastronomic revolution in London. For some years, the Boisdale restaurants, often mentioned here, have featured Macsween’s…
Drink: How I was forcefully reinforced at the Battle of Brussels
My friends divide into three groups. There are those who are determined to anticipate Lent. There is a larger number…
The Battle of Brussels
My friends divide into three groups. There are those who are determined to anticipate Lent. There is a larger number…
The Field Marshal, the restaurateur and the wine family
As the bottles flowed, the talk ranged, to a serious vineyard, an awesome Field Marshal and a delightful restauranteur. For…
Commanding vintages
As the bottles flowed, the talk ranged, to a serious vineyard, an awesome Field Marshal and a delightful restauranteur. For…
Even great wine can’t quite give me hope for Lebanon
Housman had a point. If men could be drunk for ever, the human condition would be tolerable. But thought always…
Even great wine can’t quite give me hope for Lebanon
Housman had a point. If men could be drunk for ever, the human condition would be tolerable. But thought always…
An overflow of bookshelves, a huge kitchen, a cellar, music, dogs, hens, donkeys children . . . all the ingredients for civilised life
In the later 1850s, Palmerston was Prime Minister: Gladstone, his Chancellor. It was a successful partnership between two very different…
An overflow of bookshelves, a huge kitchen, a cellar, music, dogs, hens, donkeys children . . . all the ingredients for civilised life
In the later 1850s, Palmerston was Prime Minister: Gladstone, his Chancellor. It was a successful partnership between two very different…
Guinness and oysters — or beef and Haut-Brion — in deepest Ireland
We were talking about the West of Ireland and agreed that there were few greater gastronomic pleasures than a slowly…
Guinness and oysters — or beef and Haut-Brion — in deepest Ireland
We were talking about the West of Ireland and agreed that there were few greater gastronomic pleasures than a slowly…
We celebrated a birth with a wine that will last decades
Good Saturday, 2015, stepping westward. Autumn sunshine: autumn leaves, almost comparable to New England: pumpkins everywhere, very New England. We…
