The host’s guide to champagne for the holidays

Seven champagnes we can’t resist popping for a party.

By Sara L. Schneider 03/01/2019

Nothing says “party” like a glass of champagne spritzing its delightful and delicate essence into the air. Each sparkling sip lights up the eyes and elicits smiles — when the wine is worthy, of course. And these seven bottles certainly are: a mix of the new, the known, the beautiful, and the rare. Each is paired with the accessories that best show it off — from silver buckets to coasters and crystal — and ensure the ideal toast for the occasion.

Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte 2006 Palmes d’Or Brut

We love this distinct dimpled bottle, but even more, we appreciate the approachable yet fine golden elixir within. In the champagne world, Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte is a newer kid on the block (42 years old) but a powerhouse in France and around the globe, outselling almost everyone else — and it’s not just about marketing, though they’re good at that, too, as evidenced by the brand’s salon and tasting room in Paris, one of few in the City of Light. We appreciate the wine for its tropical-fruit and melon flavours coupled with a classic toasted-brioche overlay.

Dom Pérignon 2008

There’s no question that Dom — that’s all the name you need — is a reference point for superior champagne. It must have something to do with that 17th-century Benedictine monk, Dom Pierre Pérignon, huddling in the abbey cellar, noodling around with better pressing techniques, better bottles, better blends. The 2008 reinforces the bar. In a cool growing season, the winemakers were able to delay harvest to soften aggressive structure and develop enough ripeness in the fruit. There’s perfect tension in the wine between energy and creaminess, green apple crispness, and a nutty brioche character that unfolds in layers.

Le Chemin du Roi Rosé

Connoisseurs might have reservations about a celebrity’s newly launched wine, but rest assured, this is excellent bubbly—with the added wattage of star power. Connecticut resident Curtis Jackson, aka hip-hop artist 50 Cent, spent years scouting France for a producer that could meet the quality he was looking for. He found it in Reims-based Champagne Castelnau, and this fall Le Chemin du Roi — French for “the path of the king” — made its debut. The rosé is a blend of 45 per cent Pinot Meunier, 40 per cent Chardonnay, and 15 per cent Pinot Noir, and is made from first-press juice, as all great champagnes should be. Ripe cherries on the nose give way to marzipan on the palate, with just enough acid to give it a refreshing liveliness.

Veuve Clicquot 2008 La Grande Dame Brut Rosé

Cellar master Dominique Demarville has done for Veuve Clicquot what no other maison in Champagne has yet dared to do: He’s created a prestige cuvée made almost entirely from Pinot Noir grapes (92 per cent). He was inspired by both the beautiful Pinot Noir harvest in 2008 and the brand’s history: the grape has dominated Veuve Clicquot champagnes since Madame Clicquot made the first blended rosé in 1818. This wine is delicate on the nose with notes of strawberry, and on the palate, there is a clean minerality. Its silky texture has an acidic freshness and depth from the nine years spent ageing in the bottle.

Rare Champagne Le Secret

This exquisite wine was part of a hidden stash that Rare chef de cave Régis Camus secreted away in 1997 in the oldest chalky caves of Piper-Heidsieck, at the edge of Reims in Champagne. It is only the ninth vintage created of Rare, which is made only in the most exceptional years, since the first in 1976. After a 20-year second fermentation exclusively in magnums, this champagne is truly a rare sip: no sugar was added (a rare exception in itself) or needed, so the cuvée’s acid and natural sweetness combine as dry, tropical fruits and a unique licorice flavor. It’s so fresh and lively, it’s hard to believe the wine is 20 years old. Only 1000 numbered magnums — each adorned with an 18-karat gold plate — were bottled, so this is a very limited release.

Moët & Chandon MCIII

Here’s a Champagne house that never met a large-format bottle it didn’t love. As head winemaker Marie-Christine Osselin puts it, “A regular 750 (millilitre) is just a half-magnum for us.” The newest wine they’ve put in magnum — the MCIII prestige cuvée — eludes all reference points for champagne. It includes six vintages, aged in three different materials: metal, wood and glass. And it involves other firsts, like being disgorged and blended with a little still wine. The result is mind-blowing complexity: bright fruitiness belies a velvety mouthfeel and elegant maturity layered with dried apricot, apple, and toast.

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2007 Blanc de Blancs

Only the 35th declared vintage since Taittinger created this singular blanc de blancs in 1952, the 2007 is a superb expression of a wine that, through time, has caught the attention of such disparate luminaries as Nikita Khrushchev and Ian Fleming. The blend, in the end, is from Chardonnay grown only in grand cru vineyards in Champagne’s Côte des Blancs, with a very small percentage spending a few months in new oak barrels, for the complexities of mouthfeel and toast. With 10 years on the lees, the 2007 opens with lovely brioche notes under red pear and white blossoms. Surprisingly fresh and juicy apple flavours give way to rich lemon crème brûlée, chalky minerality, and a pleasant salinity.

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First Drive: Bentley’s Flying Spur Speed Is a Muscular Heavyweight That Sets a New Benchmark

The most cumbersome part of the marque’s most powerful sedan to date is perhaps the infotainment system.

By Jaclyn Trop 01/12/2024

“Remember, it’s 25 years in jail for damaging a cactus,” warns Wayne Bruce, communications czar for Bentley Motors Limited, as he tosses us the keys to the marque’s newest and most powerful four-door ever, the fourth-generation Bentley Flying Spur Speed. Sufficiently admonished, we’re set loose from the veranda of the Four Seasons Scottsdale and into the foothills of the Sonoran Desert. We have no plans to damage local flora, but beneath the sophisticated lines and refined amenities of the vehicle lurks a beast begging to be unleashed on this cacti-flanked thoroughfare.

Bentley’s Beyond 100+ strategy, geared toward greater sustainability, has a number of components underway as incoming CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser takes the helm. Primary among these is the brand’s first all-electric model, due in 2026. The Flying Spur Speed—a Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde of a car—is a bridge between the old Bentley and the new, a model variant that must compensate for the loss of its W12 engine.

The 771 hp Bentley Flying Spur Speed hybrid. James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited

The new all-wheel-drive Flying Spur Speed comes equipped with a plug-in-hybrid power train comprising a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V-8 and an electric motor. The pairing delivers a total of 574 kilowatts, an acceleration time of zero to 96 kph in 3.3 seconds, a top speed of 284 mph, and 75 kilometres of electric range. It’s also the first Flying Spur to get four-wheel steering.

My driving companion, Kristin, and I depart the hotel in Bentley mode, the automaker’s eponymous default setting, and—first things first—begin scrolling through the manifold touch screen controls to customise the individual climate and postural settings for our quilted, hand-stitched leather seats.

The car purports to “measure and maintain the perfect body temperature via zoned heating and ventilation.” It shouldn’t take long for the Flying Spur to learn about us. I tend toward freezing, whereas Kristin veers the other way, mentioning, “I’m a 53-year-old woman. I’m always hot.”

At least the functionality should eliminate any fighting over climate control. But we are equally intrigued by Bentley’s twist on seating comfort: a postural adjustment feature that the automaker claims “soothingly and seamlessly varies the pressure on the occupants’ muscles throughout their journey” to minimise fatigue. This sounds promising. As our route to Sedona and back is a circuitous mix of surface streets, highways, and twisty canyon roads, the prospect of traveling the 482 miles without a nap seems unlikely.

“Sitting consistently the whole time—that’s what gives you a numb bum,” says Bentley spokesman Mike Sayer, explaining more about the seating system. “It’s about blood flow. If that seat is very slowly changing shape underneath you, that [numbing] never happens.”


A look at the V-8 engine inside Bentley’s hybrid Flying Spur Speed.
The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V-8 pairs with an electric motor for a combined output of 574 kilowatts James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited

Leaving Scottsdale, Kristin and I get to work, so consumed with jabbing at the car’s cumbersome, 31 cm touchscreen that we hardly notice the car seems to be doing the driving for us. “Cruise control isn’t engaged?” I asked. “No,” Kristin replies. “I’m not even touching the pedals.” Yet there are no preternatural powers at play here, as this particular street features a long, imperceptible descent that requires no throttle input, a fact we learn only later.

The four-door fires from zero to 96 mph in 3.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of 284 kph.
James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited

That, though, is the point of the Flying Spur Speed. Like its two-door Bentley Continental GT Speed sibling, it benefits from the automaker’s most advanced chassis ever. On exhibition is Bentley’s suite of performance enhancements that includes the aforementioned four-wheel steering as well as active all-wheel drive, torque vectoring, an electronic limited-slip differential, and twin-chamber air springs.

“Then we have our little secret weapon,” says Bruce: a twin-valve damper sitting within the air springs. The independent control over compression and rebound damping means that Bentley can improve the Flying Spur’s Comfort mode without sacrificing performance.

The distinctly Bentley interior features the de rigueur rotating dashboard panel and impeccable fit and finish.
James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited

As we near Sedona, we toggle between chassis settings, observing for differences in ride quality. We alternate between Comfort, which loosens the dampers to absorb bumps on the road, and Sport, which stiffens the suspension and uses active all-wheel drive to send more power to the rear axle. We also drop it into EV mode, which activates at speeds up to 140 kph. And best yet, plugging in is optional. The new Flying Spur comes with a charge mode that allows the engine to fully replenish the battery even while driving.

This new dual-character Bentley leaves us with no reason to bemoan the loss of its gas-guzzling W12 engine. True, the hybrid version is heavier, but it delivers a surprisingly nimble yet planted ride, and requires less time spent topping off the tank.

The car has an EV mode, which activates at speeds up to 87 mph, and a solely electric range of 75 kilometres. James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited

Kristin and I had no qualms about the performance—even though I did find the postural adjustment at times abrupt and bordering upon naughty—but considered the car’s main kink to be the infotainment system, which shut off the navigation just before important turns, obfuscated the menus we wanted, and continually stopped its job to nose its way into our private conversations. Didn’t we almost have it all?

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Porsche Design Tower Bangkok in Photos

The automotive icon has announced plans for a 21-story residential building in Thailand. Set for completion by 2028, the 21-story building will house 22 “Sky Villas” priced from $23 million to $60 million.

By Demetrius Sims 01/12/2024

For some time now, branded residences by household names like Armani and Fendi have attracted those with a lust for designer luxury. Car makers have entered the real estate market, too, with unique offerings by Bugatti and Bentley as well as Porsche Design, which has launched residential towers in Stuttgart, Germany, and Miami, Florida. The German lifestyle brand, founded by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, creator of the iconic Porsche 911, now has plans to take their real estate endeavours to Asia.

This month, the company unveiled its third real estate development, a collaboration with Ananda Development, a Thailand-based developer, to introduce the Porsche Design Tower Bangkok. Construction on the 21-story tower begins next year and is set to wrap by the end of 2028. The ultra-luxury condo will be located on Sukhumvit 38, one of the most prestigious addresses in Bangkok.

The two-and four-floor condos will be wrapped in walls of glass. Photo: @Porsche Design

Photo: @Porsche Design

“The Porsche Design Tower Bangkok is the next big thing for Porsche in Southeast Asia,” says Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche AG, in a statement. The region is becoming increasingly important for us, which is highlighted by major events taking place here these days. To name just one example: in January we celebrated the world premiere of the new all-electric Macan in Singapore.”

A plunge pool is shown outside one of the Sky Villas.  Photo: @Porsche Design

The tower’s striking design, as seen in renderings, is inspired by the kinetic movement of the 911 Targa roof mechanism, according to a press release. Its exposed pedestal structure, called “X-Frame,” takes cues from the design of the auto brand’s Mission R concept car and its exoskeleton structured to create a unique entry experience. A vibrant red light strip crowns the building, mirroring light displays on Porsche’s iconic sports cars.

“The Loop” garage ramp. Photo: @Porsche Design

The tower will house 22 exclusive duplex and quadplex “Sky Villas,” aimed at attracting “ultra-high net-worth individuals,” according to a press release. The abodes will range from 5,651 to 12,217 square feet, with a price range of $23 million to $60 million.

A Close-up view of the tower base’s distinctive X-shaped framing. Photo: @Porsche Design

Owners can expect to find luxury furnishings and high-end appliances throughout the residences and the building that evoke the car company’s commitment to elegance, power and flawless craftsmanship.

A red strip of light at the building’s crown mimics the streak of a tail light zooming by. Photo: @Porsche Design

The complex’s many amenities will include an 82-foot-long swimming pool, fitness center, spa, social lounge, and a luxury garage with “passion spaces,” similar to showrooms, that can be tailored to the individual liking of residents. Upscale restaurants and shopping malls are located nearby for a variety of entertainment options.

Visit pdtowerbangkok.com for more details

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How to Make a Gimlet, the Gin and Lime Cordial Cocktail That’s Perfect for Summer

It will also keep scurvy at bay, which is nice.

By Jason O'bryan 01/12/2024

“Why on earth this stroke of genius stands unheralded and unsung in this fair and allegedly free land of ours shall, to us, always be a mystery…” –Charles Baker Jr., The Gentleman’s Companion: An Exotic Drinking Book

The above was published in 1939, when the author, an American food writer travelling through Asia, first discovered the Gimlet. This is honestly a fairly common reaction to a well-made Gimlet, and the only major thing that’s changed in the last 80 years is that while we didn’t know why it wasn’t more popular then, we know exactly why the Gimlet is not more popular now. The answer is a saccharine, highlighter-yellow liquid that can be found entombed in plastic on the bottom shelf of every liquor store in this country called Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice.

Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice, a.k.a. Rose’s Lime Cordial, wasn’t always this way. It started as medicine and was literally lifesaving technology when a Scot named Lauchlin Rose invented it in the mid 1800s. Before then—basically, from the beginning of human sea-travel until about 150 years ago—the biggest threat to a mariner wasn’t pirates or sharks or sea-madness but scurvy, which claimed some 2 million sailors between the 16th and 18th centuries. We now know scurvy is caused by about three months without any vitamin C, but it took millennia to figure that out. Once we did, there was still the problem of preservation, because some other forms of preservation (things like boiling it or storing it in copper) are, as it turns out, incredibly efficient ways to destroy the vitamin C. It was ultimately Rose who figured out a way to preserve lime juice with sugar in 1867, the same year the Merchant Shipping Act decreed that all British sailors must have an ounce of lime juice in their rations every day. Rose’s new “lime cordial” fortified the entire British Royal Navy against scurvy, all at the mere cost of suffering the nickname “limeys” for the rest of time.

The Gimlet fits into this like so: The sailors drank rum, but the officers drank gin. A shot of lime juice is some fairly unpleasant business, but alcohol seems to help the medicine go down, so one story is that it was Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette who first took his Rose’s Lime Cordial with a spot of gin. Another story is that the Gimlet was named for the metal tool used for opening the barrels to get the alcohol out. In either case, we meet the Gimlet officially in 1923, in Harry MacElhone’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails as equal parts Plymouth Gin and Rose’s Lime Juice Cordial. Fifteen years later Mr. Baker (above) calls it a “stroke of genius.”

So why aren’t Gimlets more popular now? Because Rose’s has become a zombified version of itself, embalmed with high-fructose corn syrup and sodium metabisulfate, and is now one of 125+ brands owned by the gargantuan Keurig Dr. Pepper group. This is a problem, because while you need a lime cordial to make a proper Gimlet, Rose’s is explicitly the type of mass market, highly processed bullshit that the whole “mixology” thing was resurrected to combat. It helped get us to where we are—Lord knows I made my share of Mojitos with Rose’s in those dark and early days—but fortunately for all of us, we now have a better way, because fresh cordials are quick, easy, and savagely delicious.

If a Gimlet with Rose’s is the speaker on your phone, a Gimlet with a fresh cordial is a concert hall. It’s like tasting in technicolor, what was a chemical note of lime now a chord of acidity, piquant and resonant. A good Gimlet is bright and full, sharp and piercing, with a clarity that sings no matter what gin you choose. To try a good one is to really get what Baker was talking about, or to see why Chandler and Hemingway wrote the Gimlet into their fiction, or to understand the type of joy that comes from knowing you won’t die from scurvy, after all.

Gimlet

  • 60 ml. gin
  • 40 ml. lime cordial

Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds. Strain off the ice either up into a cocktail glass or else onto fresh ice in a rocks glass, and garnish with a lime wheel or peel.

NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

Gin: As mentioned, use whatever gin you like. Some gin cocktails have ingredients which strongly prefer one brand over another—the raspberries in a Clover Club, for example, uniquely complement the rose petals in something like Hendrick’s—but here we’re just dealing with gin and lime, and all gins will go well with lime. My perennial favorite for shaken gin drinks is Beefeater, which indeed works great. You could also take a note from both the original recipe and from Naval history and make it with Plymouth Gin, which works fantastically well in both its standard (41.2 percent) bottling and its Navy Strength (57 percent).

Lime Cordial: There’s lots of ways to make a lime cordial, and as your faithful servants we’ve made / bought every single one we could find and tried them in side-by-side to determine the best. Our surprise and breakaway favorite was a cordial developed by Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, which has the perfect balance of full lime flavor and sharp zesty edge. It requires getting some citric acid, which sounds intimidating but is natural and abundant and about $10 next day on Amazon (recipe below). If you absolutely insist on not making your own cordial, a good option was to just make the Gimlet using fresh ingredients (2 oz. gin, 1 oz. lime juice, 30 ml. simple syrup) and throw a lime peel into the shaker to shake with the ice. It lacks the cordial’s intensity, but the extra zestiness helps.

What’s great about the cordial is that not only is this spectacular with gin, it’s delicious with literally any clear spirit: tequila, vodka, rum, you name it. The sweet and sour of it is already balanced, so you can just add soda for a quick and easy limeade, or use it as a starting point for your own creativity (i.e. a Raspberry Pisco Gimlet is what happens when you add three raspberries to the shaker tin and use pisco instead of gin). The cordial will last in the fridge for at least a month and in the video above, I show you my favorite way to make, but here’s the complete recipe below.

Lime Cordial Recipe

Recipe from jeffreymorgenthaler.com

  • 220 grams. white sugar
  • 240 ml of warm or hot water
  • 40 ml. fresh lime juice
  • Zest of 2 medium or 1 large lime
  • 30 grams citric acid

Zest the lime and put the lime zest into a blender. Juice the zested lime(s) into the blender, then add the sugar, water, and citric acid. After blending on medium speed for 30 seconds, strain with a fine strainer. Bottle and refrigerate or mix a cocktail immediately, if you so choose.

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Gut Samaritans

Other top clinics around the globe are also offering microbiome-oriented remedies. Here are four to book.

By Mary Holland 08/11/2024

ANANDA IN THE HIMALAYAS India
Using a more natural approach, Ananda in the Himalayas heals the gut, among other problem areas, through ayurvedic treatments and medicine with a holistic program overseen by a senior ayurvedic physician specialising in gastro health and metabolic disorders. The spa is ensconced in a former palace in the foothills near Rishikesh, making the location just as relaxing. From around $1,235 per night for seven- or 14-night programs

LANSERHOF SYLT Germany
On the weathered island known as the Hamptons of Hamburg, the year-old Lanserhof Sylt boasts a team of medical experts specialising in cardiology, neurology and dermatology, among other fields. Its gastrointestinal package includes a sonogram of the entire abdomen and comprehensive stool examinations. From around $6,940 for a one-week program, not including accommodations, which begin at around $1,145 per night

RAKXA Thailand
This integrative wellness retreat in Thailand has a seven-night gut-health program that blends medical technology with traditional regimens. Treatments include colon hydrotherapy and chi nei tsang (a form of abdominal massage); guests also undergo a food-intolerance test and leave with a month’s worth of supplements. From around $16,890 for a seven-night program

ARO HA New Zealand
The Revive & Thrive program here nurtures vibrancy with gut-focused, detoxifying plant-based meals. Guests enjoy nutrient-rich plates that support the gut-brain connection, enhancing overall wellbeing from the inside out. From around $6,950 for five nights.

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Upcycle Your Vacation

For merging serious riding with high-end hospitality, Le Blanq isn’t the only game in town. Here are a few others to consider. 

By Ben Oliver 25/11/2024

When it comes to merging serious riding with high-end hospitality, LeBlanq isn’t the only game in town. if you are up for unapologetically indulgent weekends of eating, drinking and riding we have collected a few other travel operators to consider for your next cycling holiday abroad.

The Slow Cyclist 

The reassuringly named company was founded by British author Oli Broom, who spent 412 days riding—via 23 countries—from London to Brisbane to watch a few games of cricket (and raise money for charity). The company is part of the “slow travel” movement, which aims to minimise your impact on local communities while maximising your engagement with them—and what better way to do so than arriving by bike. The Slow Cyclist will put you on two wheels in locations you might never have considered, from the mountains of Transylvania to the volcanoes, lakes and gorilla-filled wilds of Rwanda. 

Cycling for Softies 

As its name suggests, Cycling for Softies focuses unabashedly on the luxury hotels and Michelin-starred dining that punctuate its easy trips (e-bike optional)—“a gâteau in every château”, in the words of author and client Kathy Lette. The company operates in five European countries, with itineraries traversing the regions with the best comestibles, whether Provence or Portugal’s Douro Valley. Your bags are transported between hotels each day, and you ride at your own pace, following an app that even details the best cake stops en route. 

Courtesy of Sportive Breaks

Sportive Breaks 

If you want to go harder than even LeBlanq can offer, Sportive Breaks will fast-track you into the most sought-after events of the year. From L’Étape du Tour, in which “civilians” take on a hard mountain stage of the Tour de France, to the roughly 314-km-long Mallorca 312 and other spectacular closed-road, mass-participation events (known as sportive rides), this specialist eases the logistical pain, if not the physical. Our pick? The slightly gentler annual Strade Bianche, whose 87 and 142 km routes over the white-gravel roads of Tuscany are bucket-list stuff for many. 

Butterfield & Robinson
Established nearly 60 years ago, Butterfield & Robinson is the OG of the luxury cycling world. A coterie of loyal and well-heeled clients has followed the Canadian company into new fields, from safaris to superyacht charters, but bike trips remain its beating heart. Don’t bother packing energy gels or even your wheels: the aim here is seamless, stress-free travel, with itineraries curated by a firm with more experienced hands and likely a broader range of destinations— covering Europe, Asia, South America and Africa—than anyone else. 

Courtesy of Trek Travel

Trek Travel 

The travel wing of the behemoth Wisconsin-based bike maker is your go-to for North American trips, with itineraries in 18 US states, Canada, Australia, Chile and Japan, and can organise custom private vacations for as few as one rider. As an official affiliate of the Tour de France and a team sponsor, Trek also offers excursions that follow the greatest race at a gentler pace: for around $17,000, you get six nights in top hotels in Nice and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, with VIP access to the final stage of this year’s event. 

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