The world is a mess. Why not find escapism through wine?
In most children’s stories, the good characters live happily ever after. Works suitable for older readers tend to greater realism.…
It’s time to take Italian wine seriously
Tuscany: earth has not anything to show more fair. The landscape is charming. The gentle hills seem to smile down…
Tories know how to find themselves a good drink
I feel old, and feelings are not always wrong, This eheu fugaces mood came on me at the Conservative party…
You have to be truly incompetent to eat badly in Paris
Paris has enough great restaurants to maintain its claim to be the world capital of gastronomy. That said, Parisian residents…
A perfect slice of Calabria
The Romans wrote the history, or at least the myths. But long before Romulus murdered Remus, the Mediterranean – the…
What wine should you serve to a matador?
We were talking bulls. A friend of mine, Alexander Fiske-Harrison, is a remarkable character who can claim at least two…
Port is fashionable once again
I once drank some excellent port at Ted Heath’s table. The invitation came as a surprise, but it almost certainly…
The beauty of a serious Burgundy
It was the English summer at its most perverse. We were drinking Pimm’s while hoping against hope for better news…
Where to drink Tuscany’s finest summer tipples
Some subjects invite an eternal recurrence. One such is Tuscany. The other day, I wrote about that glorious region: its…
What’s so super about Super Tuscans?
In Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, the hopes embodied in the title dissolve into grimness and black irony. It was all…
The beauty of rosé and roses
What an idyllic setting. We were amidst the joys of high summer in England, with just enough of a breeze…
The Britishness of Bordeaux
Burgundy or Bordeaux? We were discussing that unending question during dinner over the weekend. I think that there is only…
Tinta de Toro: the Spanish red that helped Columbus make waves
I am assured that this is not a legend. But a few years ago, an Irishman’s life was twice saved…
The joy of real beer
England. Despite being a Scotsman, partly brought up in Ulster, I have taken so much Englishness for granted over so…
The restorative qualities of a great martini
It was a perfect setting for a spring day, next to a 15th-century barn. Other walls and buildings had clearly…
In praise of Bellamy’s
Of all London districts, there is no more charming name than Mayfair. It makes one think of pretty shepherdesses, giggling…
A nose of wet chihuahua: the rich vocabulary of wine
Some decades ago, there was a Tory MP called John Stokes: eventually, and deservedly, Sir John. He had no interest…
The restorative power of great claret
‘Come dance with me in Ireland.’ That has always struck me as an enchanting prospect, though a recent Hibernian venture…
A belated Christmas tipple worth waiting for
Life is returning to normal. Clinics, pills et al are receding into the distance. There was never anything remotely approaching…
The dying days of abstinence
There is one advantage to a stay in hospital followed by confinement to barracks: time to read and to think.…
The surprising joy of involuntary sobriety
I have just finished a sojourn with a curious twist. Readers of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain will remember Hans…
