Make this your bag March 30, 2015 Keep your laptop safe and sound in a gorgeous bespoke rucksack from luxury Italian brand Piquadro Time was, the laptop bag was an uglier, floppier version of the briefcase. Not any more. Italian luxury bag maker Piquadro tasked its master-craftsmen with coming up with a rucksack befitting of the machine you rely upon for work, [...]
Shady character March 30, 2015 Bringing you the best in outlandish women’s sunglasses for the season ahead There is something about getting a new pair of sunglasses that somehow surpasses the item itself. Perhaps it’s because they tend to coincide with summer, or a holiday, or simply because you happen to wear them on your face. They don’t only change [...]
The Shanghai’s the limit in this city that never stops March 29, 2015 Londoners are obsessed with christening skyscrapers. From the Walkie Talkie to the Cheesegrater, new buildings are barely granted planning permission before they are slapped with a nickname, reducing years of meticulous planning to a childish slogan. If the residents of Shanghai had a similar habit, they’d have little time to do anything else. The skyline [...]
48 hours in… Tallinn March 29, 2015 WHERE TO STAY Merchant’s House Hotel in the old town is a traditional Estonian-style inn with original features like stone archways and nice touches in the rooms including cow hide rugs and paintings of Estonian noblemen. merchantshousehotel.com WHERE TO GO The Estonian History Museum celebrates all things Estonian from the mid 19th century onwards, including [...]
Italy: From fine wine backwater to Sassicaia superstar March 27, 2015 It is only in the last 40 years that Italy has been re-discovered and recognised as a high quality wine producer – but now it is a source of a great variety of fine wines. There are an estimated 1,000 vitis vinifera varieties cultivated in Italy and it has more than 300 different wine producing regions [...]
California: Where fine winemakers are free to experiment March 27, 2015 Wine production began in California with Spanish missionaries producing sacramental wine. The ensuing 1849 California gold rush resulted in the production of wine for commercial purposes, and the planting of vineyards increased, particularly around the regions of Sonoma, Napa and Santa Clara. By the end of the 1800s, California was producing 1.1 million hectare [...]
From Rioja to Rueda, there’s been a revolution in Spanish fine wine March 27, 2015 Spain is the third largest wine producing country in the world and has more area under vine than France and Italy. Cadiz has seen vines cultivated since 3,000 BC. Since Spain joined the European Union in 1986, it has undergone a huge wine revolution. Spain’s classification system is similar to Italy, labelling wines as [...]
The business of Champagne: Which Prestige Cuvées should be part of your investment portfolio? March 27, 2015 Champagne is famed for giving us the world’s finest sparkling wines. With around 15,000 growers and 290 Champagne Houses producing 300 million bottles a year, Champagne is big business and this illustrious wine is quickly consumed throughout the world. ‘Come quickly, I am tasting stars’ is the famed expression of a 17th century monk, named [...]
All about Bordeaux: Why Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the Left Bank and the Right is perfect for Cabernet Franc March 27, 2015 Bordeaux is the predominant region in the world for fine wine investment, completely dominating all other regions and comprising anywhere from 60-85% of regional trade by value in fine wine trading. Located in the southwest region of France, Bordeaux has three main wine producing regions: the Left Bank, Entre-Deux-Mers, and the Right Bank. Wines from [...]
Italy’s Super Tuscans are now considered investment grade wines March 27, 2015 Italian winemaking dates back to the Etruscans and later the Oenotrians whose name derives from the Greek word for wine (oinos). Today, Italy boasts over 2,000 grape varieties, a wealth of regions, soil types, micro-climates and wine cultures. For centuries Italy’s wines were as divided as the country. Winemaking in Italy fell into the doldrums [...]
