Suckling, the Pope and the future

In the same week that record label Decca launched his 12-year-old daughter as 'Isabel the Choirgirl', a record signing and contender for the number one spot in the Christmas charts, James Suckling launched his own solo career with a surreal lunch in a London penthouse yesterday.

I use the word surreal sparingly but was surprised, to say the least, to find myself with a flute of Krug in my hand, surrounded by Islamic artefacts, being lectured on international peace and harmony, Mexico, Birmingham and the Pope by Suckling, who recently surprised the wine world by jumping ship from the leading...