BBC Radio 4 LW

Desert Island Discs

Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Desert Island Discs: Jancis Robinson

27/10/1996

Jancis Robinson

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Jancis Robinson

Sue Lawley's castaway is wine connoisseur Jancis Robinson

Sue Lawley's castaway is wine connoisseur Jancis Robinson.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the wine writer Jancis Robinson.

One of only 200 Masters of Wine in the world, she recalls how her passion was first aroused by a full-bodied Chambolle-Musigny. It was, she says, the first time she realised that wine was an intellectual experience and not just for lubrication. A familiar face on television for her Matters of Taste and Wine Course series, she also edited the prestigious Oxford Companion to Wine. But her main occupation is tasting, and she can sip and spit more than a hundred varieties at a sitting. 

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] 

Favourite track: Sabat Mater Inflammatus Et Accensus by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Book: Middlemarch by George Eliot
Luxury: Cellar of wines and a corkscrew

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Letter from America by Alistair Cooke

Alistair Cooke’s weekly talks on American life, history and politics from 1946 – 2004.

Alistair Cooke’s weekly talks on American life, history and politics, as broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 1946 – 2004.

Alistair Cooke’s weekly talks on American life, history and politics. Over 900 programmes, as broadcast from 1946 – 2004.

Letter from America by Alistair Cooke: Halloween, 1996

Halloween, 1996

BBC Radio 4 - Letter from America by Alistair Cooke, Halloween, 1996

A chronicle of the origins of Halloween and the economy of pumpkins.

The history Halloween, the origin of the vampire myth and the roaring business performed by pumpkin farmers during the month of October.

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Halloween, 1996

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