Wine
Our daily haggis
Give us this day our daily bread: those are also words of great culinary significance. Even if the ‘bread’ takes…
Drink: The great white Burgundy disaster
We agreed that it was the gravest crisis facing mankind. It has led to dashed hopes, widespread grief and a…
When Glyndebourne is the most perfect place on earth
Glyndebourne. There is no single quintessential example of English scenery, but this is one of the finest. The landscape is …
July Wine Club
Recent American research shows, as if we didn’t know, that wine tasting is unreliable and scatter-brained. Wines that taste feeble…
The greatest novel in English – and how to drink it
Which is the greatest novel in the English language? Let us review the candidates: Clarissa, Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, The…
Mourning Julia Gillard with the greatest wine ever to come out of Australia
My Australian friend was in mourning over the removal of Julia Gillard, the country’s first female prime minister. She had…
When an economist turns into a winemaker
My friend Mitch Feierstein is a jolly, cheerful, life-enhancing fellow. He is emphatically not one of those economists whose purse-lipped…
Why does anyone drink wine?
You will be scandalised by the suggestion, of course, especially those of you who spend several hours every week drinking…
Taste Ranald Macdonald’s wines, and you can forgive his ancestors for allying with the Vikings
The Macdonalds of Clanranald are one of the oldest families in the world. Their lineage comfortably predates the Scotland of…
The lesson of France and Italy - the worse the country, the better the wine
Although I promise to move on to drink, forgive me for beginning with a less interesting but even more complex…
The Spectator’s Notes
There is supposed to be a Leveson Part II, although everyone has forgotten about it. As well as telling him…
The tastes of temptation
There ought to be a wise adage: ‘If invited to do good works, always procrastinate. A better offer is bound…
Success problem
Another great Bordeaux vintage on the cards? Peter Grogan examines the unexpected problems created by never-ending success
Rage against the tagine: Supermarket swipe
Wine is one of life’s great joys – so why, asks Jason Yapp, do major retailers do such a dismal job of flogging it?
Hit and miss
A little knowledge can be little help when faced with an endless, over-elaborate or pedantic wine list. Natasha Hughes offers a few navigation tips
Savouring the mystique
I have never met Roger Scruton, though I would like to; wine fans are slightly obsessional and enjoy clustering together, like trainspotters, though tasting rooms are more welcoming than the end of a platform at Crewe.