I hope David Cameron will find time to drink the odd good bottle

Back in 1989, a most unsatisfactory fellow called General Aoun started a civil war around Beirut in the hope of seizing control of the Maronite Christian portions of Lebanon. He ended up with political wreckage, which has endured.

During the fighting, I spent a few days cut off in the British ambassador’s summer residence, watching the battle going on below. We felt safer than we probably were, partly because Pauline Ramsay, the ambassador’s enchanting wife, tried to turn the crisis into a house party. So British: so best of British.

We watched, helpless, as one block of flats was regularly hit by shells. It had obviously been well built, because although it twisted like an architectural pirouette, it did not collapse. Then there was a ceasefire. We went down with water, food and medical supplies. I was not looking forward to the sight. I have rarely had much to do with battle zones, but have occasionally smelled corpses. It is not a pleasant experience. To our astonishment, there were no fatalities: the inhabitants had retreated to the cellars, with small children, cats, dogs and little water. One poor old boy was sitting in a corner gibbering. He had clearly been driven out of his wits and I would be surprised if he ever recovered them.

Those memories came back to me seeing the footage from Gaza. There are some thoughts which one does not wish to have, such as that of the children’s suffering, both Palestinians and the Israeli hostages. Especially when it seems there’s no end to the pain.

We were finding solace from suffering and tragedy by drinking Château Berliquet 2015, a fruity St Emilion which deserves to be better known. The vineyard was recently purchased by Chanel. I am pleased to say that the wine’s excellent nose owed nothing to the scent bottle.

Chanel also owns Château Canon, long established as one of the greatest St Emilions. The vignerons have the self-confidence to use only Merlot and Cabernet Franc: no Cabernet Sauvignon. The result is a long-lived wine with subtlety and power. On the Gironde, I am a fairly settled left-banker but the Canon offers a stout challenge. Although it is a Premier Grand Cru in St Emilion, it is not quite equal to a first growth on the other side of the river but it is not far off. I recently enjoyed a 2012, not rated as a first-rank year but still excellent, though it could have done with more bottle-age.

Others too can distract themselves with wine. David Cameron’s leisure hours will now be constrained. He is tasked with helping to find magic wands, especially in Ukraine and Gaza. Another memory: a cynical Israeli friend, with the help of a local Cabernet Sauvignon produced with Rothschild assistance, insisted that we Brits were incurably naive. We believe that problems are soluble, he said. We ought to learn that the intractable Middle East is perpetually subject to Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence.

Cameron now has to prove that Anglo-Saxon pragmatic optimism is not doomed to fail. I always thought that the lure of directing great events would eventually entice him. At 57 – a boy’s age – he could hardly be described as an old warhorse. But it is easy to imagine him neighing and pawing the ground when the drums and trumpets sound. Another memory: in 2010, newly arrived in No. 10, he received a most welcome house-warming present: a case of ’82 Haut Brion. The bottle I shared was superb. I doubt if the new Foreign Secretary has any left. If he does, it will be even better. I hope that he will have some time to drink the odd good bottle.