Libby’s Naked Diary: The joy of a Burns Night Highland fling January 22, 2025 IT IS Burns Night this Saturday, the annual celebration of the life, poetry and birthday of Scottish superstar Robert Burns, when even the most tenuous links to Scottish ancestry are upheld with haggis, bagpipes and whisky. I can claim a grandfather from the Highlands and am therefore preparing to party with all three. What, however, [...]
Where to go for Low and No January 21, 2025 JANUARY can be a dark time for hospitality, but just because you are watching your alcohol intake does not mean you should ignore London’s outrageously interesting dining scene. Here are some of my favourite places to dine when dry. SUNESince opening, East London’s Sune has been beloved by anyone that takes flavour seriously. Reminiscent of [...]
Libby’s Naked Diary January 8, 2025 NEW YEARS Eve can be a strange affair. One year becomes another and we feel duty bound to have Fun (with the capital F). I have celebrated in a multitude of ways, from throwing far too much money at a star-spangled event in Miami to wallowing in the dead space of an oversized Wetherspoons after [...]
Wine without the Snobbery January 7, 2025 JANUARY always feels a rather grim time to decide to go “dry”. I feel no reason to punish myself for enjoying the indulgences of festive season and besides, being a wine writer and consultant, I would be out of a job. I do however like to embrace the “damp lifestyle” and over the years have [...]
Inside London’s secret journalistic dining club December 17, 2024 Libby Brodie joins journalist Adam Hay-Nicholls at his London dining club – and had some very good wine This is the column that nearly didn’t happen. I often take wines with me when I travel and had packed a bottle of Mauricio Lorca Gran Reserva Malbec 2022 in my suitcase for a trip to the [...]
Wine Without The Snobbery December 17, 2024 THE festive season is expensive, but your wine can still deliver deliciousness without curtailing your Christmas spirit – it is simply a case of knowing where to look to find those affordable gems. Celebration means sparkling, but buying Champagne can be a little like paying for a Tiffany’s diamond, there is a cost tied up [...]
The Naked Truth December 11, 2024 Stefano di Blasi created some of Italy’s most iconic wines, such as Solaia and Megan Markle’s favourite, Tignanello. Now he makes his own wines for Naked in Italy’s beautiful Tuscany WHAT HAS TEAMING UP WITH NAKED WINES MEANT FOR YOU? I joined Naked Wines in 2013, and it completely changed my perspective on winemaking. Firstly, I was able [...]
Best wine gifts: From top bottles to wine gadgets December 10, 2024 It is a mere two weeks until Christmas and you have no idea what to get for a certain person in your life. Have no fear, I am here to suggest the best wine gifts for booze lovers. EXTON PARK CUVÉE M. ISAAC Presented in a stunning teal and gold box, this excellent English Blanc [...]
Libby’s Naked Diary December 4, 2024 Scrooges stay away, Grinches get ye gone! I had heard that nowhere does Christmas time like Buckinghamshire’s Cliveden House, but this surpassed expectation. As a parent, Christmas can be all about the children, but stepping through the entrance’s stone pillars, wrapped in wreaths and fairy lights, to the hall’s enormous glittering tree, I felt that [...]
Pearl Mackie: The Doctor Who star on her dream last supper December 3, 2024 Pearl Mackie, star of Netflix thriller The Diplomat and the upcoming production of Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre, tells us what she would eat for her last meal on earth My mum was vegetarian so I was veggie when I was growing up, until I was about 12. Back then it wasn’t great [...]