One of the joys of wine is the people who make it
Towards the end of the war, a young Guards officer met some Italian aristocrats. They had much in common. Robert…
A Frenchman who does not drink wine is a disgrace
The world is in an even greater mess than was apparent. I am not referring to Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan or…
Wine to toast the fallen
Solemn, moving, serious: British. As silence fell and the wreaths were lain, even teenagers joined in the mood of reverence.…
How to drink sake
There is a fellow called Anthony Newman who is fascinated by drink, as a consumer, a producer and an intellectual.…
A sip of Israeli history
We were drinking Israeli wine as the talk ranged from frivolity to seriousness: from Donald Trump to the tragic paradoxes…
Drink early, drink often
As readers will be aware, and without sounding too immodest, this column is absolutely committed to diversity. In an earlier…
The glory of the Goring
Last weekend, I was in England: among two very diverse aspects of the nation. In recent months, every Saturday, central…
Is God a Thatcherite?
Autumn: surely one of the most beautiful words in the language. All the other seasons are expressive, almost even onomatopoeic,…
Vodka that makes an excellent aperitif
Jack Gervaise-Brazier is a restless romantic. He was brought up on Guernsey, which filled him with a love of islands,…
North Uist’s whisky is one to watch
There are at least two Long Islands. One of them, eternally famous for The Great Gatsby, is a fascinating blend…
The English pinot noir that rivals Burgundy
England is now and history. The other day, in the Weald of Kent, now was England and pleasure. We were…
Wine to pass the cricket Test
What to drink while watching cricket? Beer or even Pimm’s for the village green, but I think that a Test…
To rehydrate, drink beer
‘The nuisance of the tropics is/the sheer necessity of fizz.’ Over the past few days, during which England endured sub-tropical…
The lure of St James’s
Procrastination may be the thief of time, but in the right circumstances, it can be fun. The other day, I…
The loveliness of Ligurian wine
We were talking about Italy: where and when to sojourn. I confessed to so many gaps. It is years since…
The art of the political lunch
We had been discussing Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, the possibility of a nuclear exchange across the Punjab and other trifling matters.…
My new-found love for Marsala
Western Sicily is one of the most wonderful places on Earth. From the Greek temples in the south to the…
The Chinese tried to get me drunk
China: what next? Around the time of the millennium, I wrote that during this century, many of the world’s great…
The Berry Bros supremacy
For more than 50 years I have assumed that any sensible person will be a right-winger, even if not all…
The seductions of Provence
Riches, ancient cities, great architecture, splendid landscape, agriculture to match, trade routes, romance. Records of human settlement stretching to the…
Should you bother decanting wine?
We were almost having a symposium and I was invited to define Toryism in one sentence. I replied that one…
The best way to approach sake
We were discussing civilisation, as one does, and its relationship with cuisine. Pasta in Italy, paella in Spain, the roast…
The Reagan effect on wine lists
Let us indulge in a slight paraphrase. What rough beast slouches towards the White House to be reborn? The inauguration…
Kemi should prepare for a political pounding
It is extraordinary to remember. When I was a small boy in Scotland, Christmas Day was not a holiday. My…
