Blog

Day three in Dubai and the weather continues dreadful. It's been raining almost non-stop since we arrived (I am here with a trade mission from the UK) and the streets, unused to coping with such a deluge, are flooding steadily.Travelling around Dubai is never easy at the best of times (the infrastru…

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas as much a I. Christmas Eve saw Mrs B, the budding wine merchant and me decamped to the bosom of my family in the countryside of south Surrey. Joseph had 6 cousins to play with and grew ever-more excited in his discovery of the joys of present opening.Christmas Day sa…

Dinner last night with very generous friends provided a real fine wine and food experience, the relaxed and happy atmos of the occasion serving to underline the very purpose of communal breaking of bread and pulling of cork i.e. bringing people together, loosening their tongues, giving them a sense …

Above: a cold morning in Wiltshire, but the dawning of a very pretty day. The small structure in the centre foreground is a "privy". I suggest that this is a morning to be glad of indoor, modern sanitation. Interestingly, there's still a loo-roll holder screwed to the inside wallI used to buy wine a…

Seen in the newspaper recently: a story that the managing director of the champagne house Roederer and his vineyard director have been quartering the Kent countryside examining vineyards in the belief that the changing climate may force their company to consider the desperate step of joining the ros…