Malbec in Bordeaux and in Burgundy bottles to boot: The new label extraordinaire going against the grain October 4, 2016 France has always been a nation of revolutionaries, whether they are political ones like Robespierre and Danton, scientists such as Marie Curie, or philosophers like Descartes or Jean Paul Sartre. So I suppose I should not be surprised to find a genuine wine revolutionary living next door to my new home in Gascony, who is [...]
The new topless Range Rover Evoque is a glorious blown-up Barbie car and we kind of love it October 4, 2016 As controversial as the EU referendum, the world’s foremost luxury 4×4 maker has lopped the top off its compact model in a bid to create a new lifestyle niche; the Cabrio SUV. To some, this is the best of all words. To others, it is a motorised selfie stick. Soft-top off-roaders aren’t a new concept. [...]
Audi Q2 review: specs, handling, engine, comparisons – the lowdown on the new mini Q7 October 3, 2016 You probably know about the Audi Q7, maybe you even drive one. Designed to offer Americans a cultured way to get around in a four-wheel-drive SUV, the big Audi ticks all the boxes, including the one that still defines an enduring attitude to cars in America: biggest is best. Of course, the Q7 is totally [...]
This extract from the print version of Atlas Obscura highlights five of the world’s oddest tourist attractions October 3, 2016 "When we launched the Atlas Obscura website in 2009, our goal was to create a catalogue of all the places, people and things that inspire our sense of wonder,” says co-founder Dylan Thomas. “We wanted a way of finding curious, out-of-the-way places that don’t often make it into traditional guidebooks – the kinds of destinations [...]
Will Superman and Batman meet their match in this new series by former Alexander McQueen artist Jacky Tsai? October 3, 2016 You might have wondered who would win between Superman and Batman (Superman, obviously), or Captain America and Iron Man (#TeamCap), but what about your favourite comic heroes against figures from Chinese mythology? Well, in Jacky Tsai’s striking lacquer carvings, Superman and Captain America seem to have met their match… “Welcome Refugees” depicts the Man of [...]
Sapphires, rubies and Paraiba tourmalines have made their way on to watch dials – but there are times only a diamond will do October 3, 2016 I’m not going to quote Carol Channing or Marilyn Monroe (or Nicole Kidman, depending on your age) because we are all well aware of a woman’s relationship with her diamonds. There really isn’t a stone out there that has allegedly captured the female imagination so much as this metastable allotrope of carbon. However, as desirous [...]
Wempe’s observatory celebrates its tenth birthday with three stunning new wristwatches October 3, 2016 Ten years ago, luxury watch and jewellery boutique Wempe acquired the legendary observatory in Glashütte, the German Mecca for watchmakers. It is there that Wempe produces its outstanding chronometers, and in celebration it has announced three stunning new wristwatches – two of which are limited edition – and its first in-house self-winding calibre. The new [...]
Simon Stålenhag’s haunting painted stories in Things From the Flood are science fiction at its most beautiful October 3, 2016 Dystopian science fiction is often filled with explosions and sirens, chaos and pain. But the Swedish illustrator Simon Stålenhag’s work captures a different face of the future. His work is characterised by stillness and melancholy, a sense of good things having passed. His astonishingly good Tales From the Loop, published last year, imagined an alternate [...]
Back in Black: Make a statement with these stylish, laid-back and all-black wristwatches October 3, 2016 Sometimes you need something with a bit more impact. In wristwatch terms, that doesn’t have to mean bringing the bling – it can simply mean going all-black. It’s less formal than a straight steel watch, and rarely works with a suit; but in an increasingly casual working world, a black watch can make a pretty [...]
These are quite possibly the eight best bottles of cognac in the world October 3, 2016 All cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. The real stuff is distilled in a small and highly protected wine-growing region around the town of Cognac in the south west of France and, like many wines and cheeses, it must meet the strict requirements of the ‘appellation d’origine controlee’ before it can be [...]