I have just been watching Lost Horizon, the 1937 Frank Capra movie. It is a delightful film - beautifully shot, charmingly acted - and it has prompted much rumination on my part.

It tells the story of a group of travellers in Asia, led by a dashing British soldier-philosopher played by Ronald Colman. As they escape a violent insurrection in China, their plane is hijacked. Eventually they crash-land in the remote Himalayan valley of Shangri-La. Read the rest of this entry »

The most surprising thing about this Chianti is how much they make of it: around half a million bottles each year, shipped to more than 80 countries. You would not expect such a wine to be better than competent, perhaps like one of those high-volume Californian reds: clean-tasting, unobjectionable and anonymous. But no description could be less true of this Chianti, which is an elegant, upmarket wine, beautifully perfumed and brimming with character. It has set the standard for all Chianti for most of the last 81 years.

“Riserva Ducale” means “Reserve of the Duke”, in honour of the the Duke of Aosta, who was understandably fond of the stuff. The first such Riserva was made in 1927, and was joined twenty years label by this “Riserva Ducale Oro” or “Gold label”. Both are cuvées, blended from grapes from the firm’s best vineyards, with the “Oro” only made in the better years. Read the rest of this entry »

In the past I have poked fun at the European systems for classifying wines. As these offer no guarantee of quality, I wondered whether anyone really benefited from them and their accompanying bureaucracies (apart from the bureaucrats, obviously). I contrasted this system with the more relaxed approach of the New World, which tends to leave the description of wines, and their reputations, to the market.

The contrast was something of an exaggeration. In point of fact, the US does have a wine appellation system. The so-called American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs, are administered by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, part of the US Treasury Department. The chances are you have never heard of them, and there is no reason why you should, because like all such systems, the AVA classifications are of no use at all to drinkers of wine. Read the rest of this entry »

Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen’s only scourge,
Your kingdom’s terror and black Nemesis?
O, were mine eyeballs into bullets turn’d,
That I in rage might shoot them at your faces!

Shakespeare, Henry VI Part 1

Once upon a time a sizeable chunk of France lay in English hands, and it was the task of John Talbot, First Earl of Shrewsbury, to keep it that way. The old boy was good at his job. He won more than forty battles and in the process killed many revolting Frenchmen. Read the rest of this entry »