Alcohol
The wine industry gives me hope
Nostalgia grows with age. Inevitably so: years lengthen and with them memories, sometimes, alas, involving departed friends. In my case,…
Drink away the autumn grey with Chardonnay
Summer is on its way out and, like almost everyone else in my part of London, we fled the noise…
Let them eat grouse
Over the weekend, although I hope that I was not committing blasphemy, it occurred to me that two splendid festivals…
How to drink at airports
Walking through Gatwick airport recently, it was heartening to see so many bleary-eyed travellers enjoying a pre-flight drink in the…
A toast to my good health
Rachel Johnson’s raillery is reminiscent of Beatrice and Benedick, in the early phase, but with no danger of a predestinate…
The only drink missing from The Spectator’s summer party
Last week the great and some not-so-good crammed into the gardens in Old Queen Street to gossip and carouse, sipping…
To survive the heatwave, drink beer
Heat and dust, plus nonsense. If the high temperatures had arrived earlier, the England cricket authorities could claim that their…
Bring back vermouth hour
In the vermuterias of downtown Palma, locals talk of little other than ‘totality’. That is, the moment on 12 August,…
Mocktails are pathetic
Mocktails. Even the name sounds dodgy. Who is this apparently innocuous canned drink mocking, pray? Probably you, if you’ve shelled…
The secret to a good marriage is drink
Many years ago, when entertaining my then girlfriend (now wife) for our first Valentine’s Day, I spent a considerable amount…
Why I took my eight-year-old son wine-tasting
My eight-year-old son’s eyes widened when I unwrapped a Christmas present I got from my parents: a bottle of cherry…
My sober assessment of the fat jabs
It was my friend Alex who tipped me the wink. I bumped into him at a party earlier this year…
The day the King came to Ravenna
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna ‘Fortune’s a right whore: If she give aught, she deals it in small parcels,/ That she may…
Why I won’t accept the Laurels of Dante
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I have just refused to accept the local equivalent of an Oscar, which was to have been…
Drinking with The Chemist – and God
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna The closest I get to a social life these days is when I sneak off into town…
Booze now has its own Rest is History-style podcast
Intoxicating History is the perfect title for drinks expert Henry Jeffreys and food critic Tom Parker Bowles’s new podcast. Its…
The highs and lows of Dry January
The first week of Dry January was relatively easy. Not falling asleep in front of the television was a pleasant…
My night with Mussolini’s ghost
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I came to Italy to write a biography of Benito Mussolini in the summer of 1998 and…
Could I limit myself to 100 bottles of wine in a year?
Back in January, I wrote about my new year’s resolution to cut down on my drinking. The thought of total…
From public bar to cocktail bar: books for the discerning drinker
There’s something for all tastes this year, whether poetic meditations on the pub, advice on wines for extended cellaring or recipes for new-wave martinis
The healing power of wine
What goes best with a broken rib? The answer, I think, is any drink you enjoy that will not make…
When in doubt, have a drink
Most Tory MPs enjoy leadership elections. There may be an element of what the trick-cyclists call ‘displacement activity’. Equally, it…
How to drown your sorrows
Age. At the Spectator party last week, the editor asked me how long I had been attending the festivity. I…
The key to dealing with this election? Wine
An old friend phoned. Normally cheerful, he was fed up. One of his business partners was being more than usually…
A lunch good enough to lift Tory spirits
Things could have been worse. My host was determined to lunch al fresco, and after all it was late June.…
