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Some strange noises – at first barely audible and impossible to identify – came from behind the heavy velvet curtains. For some time I was frozen to the spot, unsure not only what to do, but even if I should … Continue reading →

There were a number of requests for me to publish the text of my speech at Weingut Flick in Wicker/Rheingau on the occasion of the unveiling of the restored Königin-Victoriaberg monument by Jill Gallard, the British Ambassador to Germany. I … Continue reading →

Today is my 61st birthday and anniversaries are useful moments to look back. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the 1921 vintage for German wines, which is celebrating its centenary. It was not only a great vintage, but was … Continue reading →

This is my maternal grandmother Annie Pratt who died ten years ago today on her 101st birthday, and this is one of the last photograph I took of her just a couple of months earlier. She’s sitting in her favourite … Continue reading →

In exactly one month it will be the 45th anniversary of the so-called Judgment of Paris tasting at which a French jury placed red and white wines from Napa Valley/California first ahead of the most famous wines of France. It … Continue reading →

Für den deutschsprachigen Text bitte nach unten scrollen! I went to Gut Hermannsberg (GHB), the ex-State Domain of the Nahe region of Germany, from JamesSuckling.com in March 2019 to be Riesling Ambassador for their 10th anniversary year under the ownership … Continue reading →

Welcome to the deep end of 2020, the shortest and darkest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the original mid-winter festival. However, for the United Kingdom this is the Darkest Hour in my lifetime, and I am … Continue reading →

I don’t expect anyone will find it hard to believe that Berlin, where I lived from the end of 1993 until the end of 2012, currently feels very spooky. In virtually empty side streets and parks where the risk of … Continue reading →

Vienna, 4th September 2020 Hello Kelby,  being here for the first time in a couple of years has made me do a lot of thinking. So far Vienna has weathered the Covid-19 storm better than most big Western cities I’ve … Continue reading →

There’s a very apt American expression for the current position in the USA: IN DENIAL. This means not just denying one or two true facts on certain occasions, but living in a state of denial about a situation of some … Continue reading →