Allan Hall (10 December 1929 – 26 April 2001) was a British

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. Born in Hemsworth, Hall began his career in journalism with the '' Newcastle Journal'', but soon moved to London. By the age of 27 he became editor of the ''

Sunday Graphic The ''Sunday Graphic'' was an English tabloid newspaper published in Fleet Street. The newspaper was founded in 1915 as the ''Sunday Herald'' and was later renamed the ''Illustrated Sunday Herald''. In 1927 it changed its name to the ''Sunday ...

'' for a year,Douglas Martin,
Allan Hall, 71, Journalist Who Inspired Beaujolais Race
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 3 May 2001 then in 1959 became managing editor of the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 b ...

''. In 1960, both papers closed, and Hall began writing a gossip column for the '' Daily Herald''.Michael Leapman,
Allan Hall
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 30 April 2001 Hall remained a columnist as the ''Herald'' became '' The Sun'', but left in 1969 when

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

bought the paper. He joined the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', where he launched a lifestyle section before taking over the "Atticus" diary column. Having long had an interest in wine, being known for spending long lunches in the

Connaught Rooms The Freemasons' Tavern was established in 1775 at 61-65 Great Queen Street in the West End of London. It served as a meeting place for a variety of notable organisations from the 18th century until it was demolished in 1909 to make way for the ...

, he convinced editor Harold Evans to launch the Sunday Times Wine Club. By now writing regularly about wine, Hall decided in 1972 to organise an annual race to bring

Beaujolais Nouveau Beaujolais nouveau ( , ) is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is a '' vin de primeur'', fermented for just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. Distributo ...

to Britain, replicating a private race by Clement Freud (wine correspondent for ''The Sun'') and Joseph Berkmann (agent for Georges Duboeuf) in 1970 and 1971. The race still takes place annually: the prize, a bottle of champagne, is awarded to the first competitor to arrive at ''The Sunday Times offices. In 1980, Hall moved to work for

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His cont ...

's magazine '' NOW!'', during which time he hosted a lunch at which fine wines were served. For this one meal he claimed, and was paid, expenses of more than £11,000. The magazine closed the following year, after which Hall retired to

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, selling wine and offering tasting sessions. He continued writing about wine on a freelance basis, and organized wine tours of France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Allan 1929 births 2001 deaths English male journalists English newspaper editors Gossip columnists People from Hemsworth Wine critics