by Caspar Bowes

I have been holding off this post, awaiting as I was definitive news about menus and wine lists enjoyed during a recent visit to the Borders. This has become an annual event: a yearly coming together of the John Buchan Food and Wine Society. This sounds as though there might be a literature theme. T…

This morning's dawn and the beginning of a distinctly spring-like dayIt's always informative to retaste, after a period of years, a wine that one sampled in its extreme youth, especially if that wine is one that has appeared on a Bowes Wine offering in the past.Here I sit, looking out of the window…

Lascombes's cellars looking ice cool under the blue lightsUnder yet more grey skies I crossed the Pont d'Aquitaine and followed the wrong signs, approaching St Emilion via central Libourne. The town's nice enough, but it wasn't the route I had anticipated. Nevertheless (a word as pleasant to say in …

It's a good day in Bordeaux when one has tasted wines that rise above the merely good; wines that can truly be referred to as great.First appointment was La Mission. I set off early. Although I have been there numerous times before, I always have concern that I am going to get lost in the suburbs of…

A train leaves Glasgow heading for London. The first three carriages are packed with a cargo of freshly sawn wood destined for the furniture makers of the English capital. In the fourth carriage is a family of blackcurrants, perhaps journeying home after a short cultural break north of the border.Un…