Gerald Michaluk, managing director of Arran Brewery says there should be a public-funded study into whether drinking beer can be good for you. He says “I have heard both sides of the argument but the truth is out there and needs to be uncovered by independent professionals no associated with either drink or anti drink lobby”. He continued “We need to know the facts and separate them from the faith and fiction surrounding the benefits of beer consumption.”
Michaluk refers to my old frien Gene Ford who wrote in his book “The Science of Healthy Drinking” that moderate drinking can help reduce the risk of heart disease, blood clots and certain forms of Alzheimer’s disease.
American West Coast based Gene Ford did serious research into Wines, Spirits and Beers in the early 1980’s.

The first batch of wines to go on sale from the Elysée Palace have been snapped up by Chinese buyers. The first part of the sale was in the evening of 30th May and prices exceeded expectations. Two bottles of Petrus exceed €3,000 each.

Christies withdrew a magnum of DRC La Tache 1962 from a New York Auction scheduled to take place on 31st May. Apparently there is some doubt as to the authenticity and that it might be fake. The bottle in question was sold by Christie’s to an American collector in December 2010. Examniation by Burgundian experts have found what they think are inauthentic details on the label.
The bottle has been withdrawn to allow the research process to to be carried out.

Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, owned by the Rolland family, has been sold to an Asian investor. The property is thought to have been bought by Sutong Pan the chairman of Hong Kong-based investment holding company Golden Financial Holdings. The deal began last December but was only finalised in the last week of May. The time taken was because the property was owned by a number of Rolland family members and it took time to get all to agree. A sum has not been disclosed. The seven hectare estate has been in the Rolland family since the 1920’s. It is planted 80% merlotand balance Cabernet franc on gravel, clay and sand soils.
It is thought that the deal involves two additional Right Bank estates belonging to the Rolland family. Chateau Rolland-Maillet and Chateau Bertineau St Vincent in Lalande Pomerol comprising 16 hectares in all.
No statement has been made but it is expected that the Rolland management team will remain with the properties.

Recently declassified Foreign Office documents from the second world war revealed a letter describing a late night drinking session between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Both leaders were known to “enjoy” their drinks. A memo written by Sir Alexander Cadogan was part of a sensitive document that has just been declassified. Cadogan revealed how Churchill liked to engage his guests at mealtime with “irreverent and irresponsible discourse.”
In a letter to Lord Halifax who was ambassador to the US at the time, Cadogan described a session with Stalin. Written in the late 1940’s it must refer to Churchill’s visit to Moscow in the summer of 1942. Cadogan wrote “Nothing can be imagined to be more awful than a Kremlin banquet, but it has to be endured.” He continued “Unfortunately Winston didn’t suffer it gladly. However, next morning he was determined to fire his last bolt and asked for a private talk, alone with Stalin. This was fixed for 7 pm.”
Cadogan then writes that he was summoned to the room later that evening and found the table groaning under the weight of “foods of all kinds crowned by suckling pig and innumerable bottles.” He said Stalin made him drink something “pretty savage”, while Churchill, who was by this time complaining of a slight headache, “seemed wisely to confining himself to a comparatively innocuous effervescent Caucasian red wine.” The party continued until 3 am when Stalin extolled the merits of the Soviet Union and everything as “merry as a marriage bell.”