Why are people drinking less, when wine is better than ever? I have an idea. Wine is too good. The wine trade is too nice. What we need, to have...
Read More
A Level Playing Field
What do we mean by the word “Burgundian”? Used indiscriminately to describe a region that is famously, almost defiantly complex, it’s a term that covers so many appellations, terroirs and...
Read More
Affordable Luxury
Would I pay £25 for a glass of Veuve Clicquot? Not if I could help it, no. Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t drink Veuve Clicquot if it...
Read More
Meet Your Robo-Somm
The year is 2029. First-world civilisation has adapted to mass surveillance. Waymos and Tesla Robotaxis chauffeur NPCs between work and their domicile. Porch Pirates have spared your paleo meal-prep subscription...
Read More
The Pluralism Of Wine Writing
Einstein was there before us. As he famously put it, I know not with what technologies the third 67 Pall Mall awards were fought, but the fourth will be fought...
Read More
Drinking Quite Well
I hope you’ll forgive this column for being somewhat nostalgic. I want to begin by giving a picture of the wine-drinking habits and economics of a particular middle-class English family...
Read More
Raising Standards
Joy is unconfined, one assumes, in the Languedoc village of Montpeyroux: last week it became the 369th French Appellation d’Origine Controlée. This will mean stricter controls on the red grapes...
Read More
Palliative Measures
Things can only get worse was a mantra of student life in the 1980s. Thatcherism was dystopic, a priori. Graduation was just a blip. We were all back in our...
Read More
A Performance Art
Susannah Cibber was a terrific singer, by all accounts. Handel gave her the contralto solos in Messiah, and she had a great acting career as well: she became the highest...
Read More
Hand In Hand
Rowan Hooper’s new book, Togetherness, is a fascinating study of symbiosis, what he calls a “neglected silo” of scientific research. The subject might sound a bit geeky and pointy-headed, but...
Read More
Michelin And The Death Of The Wine Guide
It was entirely predictable that Michelin’s new venture into wine would trigger huffy French recriminations. Its Wine Selection Burgundy 2026, launched this month, awarded nine producers the top accolade of...
Read More
The Yang Of Greek Wine
By now this is so well-known that repeating it enters broken record territory. The biggest story for Greek wine the past 20 years has been the rise of Assyrtiko. From...
Read More