My recipe to cure a hangover
Journalists exaggerate, often reaching for superlatives to chronicle mildly interesting events. Even so, there are times when it is necessary…
Christmas without God in the Appalachians
Christmas: without being grand and Proustian, this is a season when time present inevitably takes one back to time past.…
Never underestimate Boris Johnson
Much of the political class is still in a state of shock. Many are tempted to echo Lord Melbourne: ‘What…
Why I’m still convinced Boris will win a majority
Everyone seems agreed. Although the numbers may not have moved much, this election is still wide open. So anyone who…
Politics of a certain vintage – and wine to match
I wonder how they do things now at Tory headquarters. For the ’79 election, the preparations had been completed weeks…
Wine that puts politics in its place
In the era of vinyl, lost in one of Bruckner’s longueurs, it could be hard to tell what was stuck,…
The delights of Spanish wine – and art
First, an apology. In my last column, I appeared to be saying that good champagne does not age. This must…
The finest champagnes do not age
The other night, I dreamt about Brexit. Awakening to the oppression of an urgent task, it took me a few…
A vintage tale of Thatcher, Reagan and some truly great wines
Poor Old Girl. The final act may not have been sanglante, but as the third volume of Charles Moore’s life…
There is always time for a bottle of Champagne
My friend Dominic decided that it was time to convoke a lunch. There were matters to discuss, including that perennial…
It’s no surprise that Brexit looks doomed
I have a friend who insists that he takes little interest in politics. Even so, the other evening he came…
Claret, dogs and nothing to grouse about
What do you get if you cross a dyslexic, an insomniac and an agnostic? Someone who wakes up at 4…
Reasons to be cheerful: gardens, Ben Stokes and cold wine
‘The Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.’ Is there a more charming passage in…
Was I wrong about Boris Johnson?
The Conservative commentariat does not march in step. Myself, along with Matthew Parris, Max Hastings and Simon Heffer are proud, stiff-necked…
Like Team Boris, I’m staying in London this summer
Foolish me. I could have been writing this by the shore of Lake Trasimene, with only one problem: how to…
A wine of Boris’s vintage
My host twinkled sardonically. ‘We’re bound to be discussing Boris. So what’s the right wine?’ I suggested a bunker-busting Australian…
The tastes of summer: polo, Pimm’s and plenty of Champagne
England. On a glorious summer afternoon in the Sussex countryside, I had been invited to watch polo at Cowdray Park,…
A toast to the wisdom – and wit – of Norman Stone
We were in a club, discussing Norman Stone, recently departed, over a meal that he would have enjoyed. Norman divided…
Ian Botham’s Ozzie Chardonnay is too good for the convicts
Cricket is the most gracious of games. County grounds in the lee of cathedrals, village greens in the perfect setting…
In an era of illusion and fantasy, let the wine do the talking
We had all said everything there was to say about Brexit a hundred times over. So the conversation took different…
Debunking the Greek wine myth
A book, a bottle, a bower set in an ancient garden: you think that if you walked round the right…
The case against Boris Johnson
In the old days, if the Tory party was in trouble, old hands who had seen it all before would…
Save us from fads and change for change’s sake
There is no new thing under the sun. Over the weekend, I read a book which was alarmingly relevant to…
Finding hope in poetry, politics – and white Burgundy
During the Middle Ages, some of the monastic halls which evolved into Oxbridge colleges allowed their younger inmates to indulge…
Independence for Dorset? I’ll raise a glass to that
There was a shrewd old Tory MP called John Stokes. He was not on the left of the party. Indeed,…
