On 19 June, Bollew, son of Michael Broadbent, wine auctioneer and wine recorder sans pareil, sent me this photograph of his mother Daphne, telling me that it was their 61st wedding anniversary and asking whether I had spoken to his father recently.
Bollew, short for Bartholomew, runs wine importer Broadbent Selections in the US and was being a thoughtful and dutiful son for, later that day, Michael, sounding brave, told me that Daphne had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died yesterday afternoon at home in west Berkshire, with Michael, Bollew and her daughter Emma by her side. Bollew, who was with her in England for her last three weeks, having witnessed the National Health Service care with which she was nursed, day and night, towards the end, declares himself a dedicated convert to Obamacare as a result. (See Bollew's comments on this at * below.)
She celebrated her 84th birthday on 22 July (Michael is 88) but never really seemed elderly. She may have taken to using a rather colourful and elegant walking stick towards the end but she was always too impish and good humoured to be regarded as senior. She was the perfect foil for Michael. Not only did she help him enormously with his work and surely acted as an unpaid member of staff for Christie’s in the early days of packing up dusty, damp cellars – most notably that of Glamis Castle in Scotland. She also nobly typed up many of the hundreds of thousands of tasting notes from his trademark little red notebooks. But perhaps most admirably of all, she was very much her own woman. She could be guaranteed to add her own subversive comments in the middle of one of his tasting lectures. At the 10 years on bordeaux dinners we shared together for many years chez Penning-Rowsell, she delighted in adding her own assessments of each first growth, invariably completely at odds with those of her famous husband.
She may occasionally have employed an acid tongue, but was always extremely kind. Whenever they came to dinner with us she brought something thoughtful, and I still have fond memories of her chicken liver pâté served at their London flat overlooking the Thames in Fulham. Talking of their dining habits, my abiding picture of her will be sitting in the back of their rather comfortable BMW on the way back from dinner, Michael at the wheel in front, having retrieved his chauffeur’s cap from the boot as a defensive measure against the breathalyser.
Michael sounded stoical when I last spoke to him but he must be pleased that their home is now in the grounds of the house owned by Emma (a judge) and her husband the Conservative politician James Arbuthnot. Michael is said to be writing his memoirs, provisionally entitled My Wife and Hard Wines.
* Bollew writes LOVELY memorial to my mother. The only thing I didn’t like was the impression that I am a convert to Obamacare. In fact, I voted twice for Obama and the main reason was for his health care reform goals. Republicans [which I am not] are prone to saying that Obamacare will make the US health care become like the English National Health Service. Next time I hear that, I am going to tell them how incredible it is. We had teams of two and three people coming to our house four times a day and someone sitting all night long. When we ordered a special mattress, wheelchair and commode, all were delivered, brand new, the very next day. The doctor’s practice in our village is nicer than any doctor’s office I’ve ever seen in America. I had no idea how great the British National Health Service is. Basically, it is better than the healthcare in America, including that which is covered by insurance! Perhaps the only thing greater about healthcare in America is some of the advanced stuff at places like the Mayo Clinic with machinery which is probably the best in the world but as far as general healthcare goes, it is better here and free to everyone. That’s what is needed in America to make American healthcare better. You can publish this if you like!!