Henry discovers a wine so unusually bad that he actually recommends you try it... Wine writers very rarely write about horrible wines. Their columns are full of exciting recommendations for readers to buy. There are two reasons for this. Firstly wine writers feel it is important to support wine as an ... Read More...
Drink
Never mind the ad campaigns, M&S is still great for food and booze, says wine correspondent Henry... We should have guessed that Marks & Spencer was in trouble again from their recent advertising campaign. One can imagine desperate executives at head office shouting: ‘dammit John! We’ve got Mirren, Westwood and Twiggy, ... Read More...
Henry passes on a useful tip for Anglophones trying to handle French wine terms... When I was taught French at school, we learnt it orally for the first year. I remember how shocked I was when I saw written French for the first time. It looked nothing like it sounded. The ... Read More...
It's time the world recognised the man who made vintage wine, port and champagne possible, argues Henry... I’ve just written two articles, one on vintage port and one on cider. I found it impossible to write either without mentioning Sir Kenelm Digby. The amazing Digby was the inventor of a special ... Read More...
Craft beer is all the rage, and British brewers are making undrinkable versions of American versions of British beers. Henry says it's time to go back to basics... I have a friend who has been a real ale bore since his teens. During student pub crawls in Oxford he used to ... Read More...
Henry wonders whether a 'Good Pub Guide' actually has any pubs in it... Due to the capricious workings of the UK Border Agency, we went on holiday to Norfolk last year rather than France as originally planned. One of the highlights of the trip was the pub next door to our ... Read More...
Dabbler drinks correspondent Henry Jeffreys is disappointed to find that even the Australians have succumbed to wine marketing gibberish... Last year the BBC documentary Chateau Chunder charted the rise of the Australian wine in Britain, and what really shone out of it was the Australian genius for marketing and plain speaking. Now you probably ... Read More...
In a special guest post, Canadian commenter Peter muses on the English-speaking world's various attitudes to booze... The British and Americans have more in common than language to divide them. The joys of intercontinental blogging and a long time bedtime addiction to police mysteries have led me to understand that a ... Read More...
Thank god, the Christmas food (and drink) fest is almost over. Though if your Christmas is like mine, you may end up with quite a few culinary curiosities in your food cupboards. I buy numerous jars of pickles every year. Last year’s pickled walnuts were still in the cupboard when I ... Read More...
Christmas is but one week away, and where would a good dabbler be without a spot of wassailing. Before we set off wassailing incorrectly, we thought it prudent to consult Epicurean Luke Honey from The Greasy Spoon Blog to find out what wassailing actually is... Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves ... Read More...
