“Once again a cold and rainy year. August was a disaster, September cold and rainy. The wines are green, acidic and harsh. The same is true for the Sauternes which are light and acidic.”

It wasn’t a great year in Bordeaux, but up on Tyneside, it was a different matter, for it was the year my parents were born.

I’ve been reflecting on this as my father, the last remaining parent, has recently died. I found myself writing an obituary and then thought, given his role in getting me hooked on the noble grape, that it was worth sharing here.

Frank Welsh passed away on St George’s Day, at the age of 91. Two weeks earlier he’d been touring Lübeck with his grandson, retracing the steps of Thomas Mann and planning an investigation into a possible link between the Hansa Cog trading ship, and Captain Cook’s Endeavour. This latest escapade defines him well, historian, man of commerce, literary figure, nautical enthusiast, and of course, family man.

Educated at Blaydon Grammar, Frank won a Scholarship to Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read History and married Agnes Cowley ‘the nearest thing on Tyneside to Audrey Hepburn’. On graduating he took a job at John Lewis Partnership and while he only worked there for four years, those years were amongst his happiest. It wasn’t long before he found himself Managing Director at the veritable merchant bank of William Brandt’s Sons & Co. A foot in the city led to numerous other adventures including Chairman of – Jensen Motors, steel maker Dunford & Elliot and Group Executive Director of National & Grindlays Bank.

In 1976 he was appointed a Commissioner of The Royal Commission into The NHS – the findings of which are well worth a read to this day. His early writings, The Profit of the State: Nationalised Industries and Public Enterprises, and The Afflicted State: A Survey of Public Enterprise, Uneasy City: An Insider’s View of the City of London, focused on the commercial world he knew so well.

It wasn’t long before his passion for history re-emerged with his critically acclaimed ‘A History of Hong Kong’. Having resided in Flass, a country house built on the profits of opium trading, his first history came with a unique perspective.

This followed histories on South Africa, Australia, and the United Kingdom, then, perhaps his favourite work, 1415 The Council of Constance and the Battle for Christendom, which told an important, but overlooked part of European history.

It would be fair to describe Frank as a ‘Renaissance Man’: when discussing the ancient Greek Trireme’s true capabilities over dinner with classicist friends, he suggested “there’s only one way to find out, let’s build one” and promptly set up The Trireme Trust which led to the first Trireme to navigate the waters of the Aegean in two millennia.

For the last 30 years Frank resided in France. In recognition of his historical works, and his love of Armagnac, he was honoured by the Companie des Mousquetaires.

Frank is survived by his children, the proud 2d and 2s, in Who’s Who, along with 8gcs and 4gcc, and his faithful dog, Lilu.

We’ve been celebrating his life these last few days, at his home in France. Many tears have been shed, and many memories shared, of both my father and my mother. I’m lucky enough to have recorded one of my favourite recent memories, our chat on the inaugural ‘Three Wines With’. You can hear it here.