Wine
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…
When did 'big girl's blouse' become an insult?
Fotherington-Thomas was introduced by Nigel Molesworth, the narrator of Down with Skool!, in 1953: ‘As you see he is skipping…
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…
Letters: why Rose Hudson-Wilkin is the right choice for Bishop of Dover
Rose is the right choice Sir: Every Wednesday for the past nine years, it has been my privilege to attend…
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…
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…
Dear Mary: What should you do when friends invite you to lunch but don’t offer wine?
Q. I was invited to birthday drinks in London. On my way there the name of someone I haven’t heard…
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…
Is wine an art?
Acouple of lawyers were disagreeing about a matter which could become increasingly relevant. Could a sitting president pardon himself? But…
Barolo, the only comfort in a world full of chaos
It appeared to be an uneven contest. A few friends were meeting for a festive wine-tasting, to compare and contrast…
In the midst of Brexit agony, one thing remains certain: disputation needs drink
It is enough to drive a fellow to the bottle. I am not given to agnosticism. My view is that…
A triumph from the Dolomites
A salute to the best Super Tuscan, not from Tuscany
An object lesson in investing in luxuries
From contemporary art to specialist whisky, now’s the time to invest in luxuries you love, says Olivia Williams
The paradox of Burgundy
I was trying to remember what I once knew about the theology of the Reformation and especially the various factions’…
How violence in France led to the creation of London’s Courtauld Gallery
Darkness, but not the blanket of the dark. This was a sinister darkness, beset by smoke and flames, by the…
Searching for God in the twilight on the Aegean Sea
My friend Jonathan Gaisman recently gave rise to a profound philosophical question concerning wine. Jonathan is formidably clever. He has…
Is it possible to talk about wine without sounding like a prat?
There are only two British television wine presenters taxi drivers have heard of, Jilly Goolden and Oz Clarke. Who can…
Stockbridge, Hampshire: an unexpected gastronomical haven
‘The doors clap to, the pane is blind with showers / Pass me the bottle, old lad, there’s an end of summer.’…
How blind tastings led to wine’s identity crisis
Blind tastings have baffled since ‘the Judgment of Paris’
My host’s reciprocity was almost embarrassingly generous
Peace came dropping slow. I have never regarded west Flanders as part of la France profonde, but here we were,…
Letters: The mishandled burka outrage has made it more likely that Boris will be PM
Boris mishandled Sir: Your editorial ‘Bravo Boris’ (11 August) suggests that the treatment meted out to Boris Johnson by the Prime…
Weak but stable, Theresa May is the opposite of a good claret
It is enough to make a man turn to drink. On a distinctly non-abstemious day, I was sitting in one…
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