Much has already been written about The Spectator’s notorious spin around the Med this summer on board Cunard’s Queen Victoria, and there’s nothing much I can add except to confirm that, yes, we did indeed have a complete and utter hoot. In fact such a complete and utter hoot was it that once we’re all fully recovered and match fit we’re darn well going to do it again.
Needless to say, much of the jollity and most of the japes were the result of enjoying vast amounts of vino of the tippest-toppest quality in a seemingly endless supply. Just when we thought we’d succeeded in drinking the ship dry, more bottles appeared. I’d like it minuted, though, that we really did put our backs into it with several concerted and stout-hearted assaults on the wine list. After all, it was a Spectator cruise, not a New Statesman one.
Happily, I knew we were in safe hands the minute I saw the list and twigged that all the wine we were about to knock back in the Queen’s and Princess Grill restaurants had been supplied to Cunard by Messrs Corney & Barrow, titan of the British wine trade, still privately owned and going stronger than ever after 235 years in the business.
Corney & Barrow boasts two royal warrants as well as some remarkable exclusive agencies including such stellar names as Champagne Salon, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Pétrus.
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