As I write this I am still somewhat bleary eyed, following last night’s excellent dinner at the Institute of Tourism Studies. The invitation came from the Demajo Group (Wines and Spirits). The Mistral Wine Club was meeting for dinner and to ‘taste’ four Moët & Chandon Champagnes, including a vintage and an absolutely excellent Rosé as well as Hennessy X.O. Cognac.

I hope the Labour Party will order lots of this excellent Rosé when they win the election and invite some of us Champagne Socialists to help them empty the bottles. It would be the ideal drink for such a celebration and, as Alfred Sant once told me: “We need Champagne Socialists in the Party, too.”

It was, of course, a Benedictine monk, Dom Pierre Pérignon, who perfected the means of sealing the sparkle in the Champagne bottle, thanks to the rediscovery of the use of cork as a stopper.

At this dinner, as glasses were replenished by the splendid young team at ITS, Aaron Rizzo, a lecturer at ITS, gave us interesting facts regarding the particular Champagne we were drinking. I told him afterwards that I would love to impress my darlings, when we next drink Champagne, hopefully at my niece’s wedding reception soon, with facts such as these, spouting them out with the same certitude as Aaron, as if they are second nature.

We started off with Brut Imperial ‘the ideal aperitif to rattle the tastebuds’. I arrived half-an-hour late and guests were already seated, so I only managed to consume half a glass of this lovely bubbly. The Brut Impérial Rosé was then served with a delicious Chicken Liver Parfait which came with a Peach & Orange compote. I drank three glasses of this, its salmon pink colour enhanced by a stream of fine bubbles. The young girl serving it could see the glint in my eye, and kept on replenishing my glass so that I was swept away by the wine.

I would have worn pink had I known that such a delicious Rosé was going to be served. To match your clothes to your Champagne would be the height of decadence in my book, though Champagne does not really give you much scope for mixing and matching seeing that it only comes in ivory/pale yellow/pale gold and Rosé.

Next came fresh noodles served with an array of shellfish and smoked salmon and other bits and pieces and our glasses were again replenished with pink Champagne. I believe enough Champagne was generously served that evening, to float a boat, even if only a small dghajsa.

The Brut Impérial Vintage 1996, which is made up of three vine varieties, was served with the Teriyaki duck breast with Jasmine flavoured rice, peppered strawberries and cinnamon jus. On my table Patti Richards, Mary Rose Rademaker and Christopher Bonello from Giannini’s which recently changed hands, were radiating well-being, as I hope I was too. We spoke about anything and everything but did not try to put the world to rights.

And so to the delicately prepared dessert: Apple Millefeuille complemented by a Pear crumble, Blueberry compote and served with Thai Tea ice-cream. Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial was served with this fruit-based dessert.

This Champagne is a veritable nectar.

To end this feast Hennessy XO Cognac was served with Illy coffee, Lindt chocolates and petits fours. The XO stands for EXtraOrdinary, ‘eXtra Old’ and comes in its distinctive decanter, designed in 1947. This Cognac was created back in 1870 by Maurice Hennessy for the private use of the Hennessy family and eventually commercialized.

This is not brandy or Armaniac, but a Cognac because it comes from the Cognac region in France. Once it touches your lips you do not feel harshness or a burning sensation. It is very gentle as is its aroma. I had never had it before and when I write my bestseller I shall purchase a bottle for myself. I have drunk VSO and VSOP Cognacs but never XO and I loved it. The mix in the mouth of XO and Lindt chocolate creates a very special sensation. By now, I had eliminated the word d-i-e-t from my mind and was not even prepared to feel guilty, although my loose belt was very tight.

Chev Anthony Miceli Demajo gave us various interesting facts about the drinks we were consuming and even the number of bubbles contained in a Champagne bottle, which runs into millions. (I hazarded a guess and said 500. How pathetic!) His wife Lorraine is following a diploma course at ITS. She could, of course, simply sit at home and do little but I know she takes an active interest in the company and its activities and is now following a course which will help her know more about wines and spirits. She is certainly not just a pretty face. An evening to remember certainly. The young team at ITS was impressive. I hope they will stick to their good habits, once they start working in the real world.

Alexander Arrigo, as always, polite and respectful, asked me if I wished to meet and interview the President and CEO of Zippo. Well, we all know what Zippo produce, even if we may have never owed one. So we met at the InterConti and over coffee Gregory W. Booth, whose suitcase had not yet arrived, spoke very knowledgeably about the Zippo empire.

George G. Blaisdell invented the Zippo lighter in Bradford, Pennsylavania in 1932, Mr Booth told me, and the firm is still in the hands of the same family and still in Pennsylavania. Since then Zippo have produced over 400 million windproof lighters. It seems I was not original when I asked him if sales were going down since people on the whole, at least in the developed world, were smoking less. Apparently not. Sales of Zippo lighters, are as a matter of fact going up, said Mr Booth. Zippo lighters are also collectors pieces – there are some 15 collectors clubs around the world – and even those who do not smoke, collect them. In fact, around 21% of those who own Zippo lighters collect them. The brand awareness of Zippo is amazing, like that of Coca Cola.

Zippo is a derivative of the word ‘zipper’ – the sound of which George Blaisdell liked. This is a lighter which has been used in hundreds and hundreds of films including the classic Casablanca. Will they eventually be made in China, as everything else is these days I asked Mr Booth? This is definitely out of the question, he told me. It is an American lighter and will go on being made in Bradford, Pennsylavania, where it originated.

You will be able to read Mr Booth’s interview in the June issue of First, our monthly magazine.

And I cannot close this diary without telling you about the excellent and most enjoyable Romanian Orchestra of Engineers concert at the Manoel Theatre. All the members of the orchestra, including many of the women, professors, mechanical and energy engineers, computer scientists and also students of these subject. As the president of the Chamber of Engineers in Malta Ing. Helga Pizzuto, said, in the Foreword to the programme, this was the 7th Annual Engineers’ Concert and now an important event on the Chamber’s calendar of activities.

The orchestra was made up of all ages but I have to single out the pianist, Dr Maria Haiduc, a nuclear physicist, who played Haydn’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D Major. She walked in, almost shyly and it was wonderful to see her play, especially those of us of a certain age, for she too, is evidently of a certain age. She proved that you don’t have to spend the rest of your years looking into emptiness, once you are no longer young.

The choice of programme was excellent, not too heavy with Rossini’s ‘Scala di Seta’ Overture, followed by the Haydn Concerto, Sibelius’ Valse Triste and a wonderfully played Mozart – Symphonic Concert in E flat major for violin and viola KV 364 – with Ileana Ionesti, an attractive computer scientist on the violin and a not-so-young Mircea Cazacu on the viola.

They ended with Ivanovici’s Danube Waves, which of course, we all know and love, even if we may not know the composer’s name. It is better known as Oh How We Danced and Anniversary Waltz. Really, how lucky to have had the opportunity to attend this excellent evening. And what a conductor!