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Smells like in-between season “The cross-over”: Hierbas de Ibiza

8 Sep 867208280_6246ef7c7e

WHAT happens when you’re in a part of the world where the days still reach into the 90’s but the evenings begin to dip into the lower 60’s and 50’s? During the day the beach, pool and sun beckon, but at night that salty, cool, and crisp cologne seems a bit out place?

In the Mediterranean, I’m thinking Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Naples and Rome, the days are spent in linen clothes all shades of Easter and white. Towards the evening, that thin powdered-blue cashmere sweater that’s been hanging from your shoulders all day finally gets worn as the night begin to settle into the fall.

These inter-season periods tend to be tricky; too hot for a full-blown woodsy and smoky winter fragrance but beginning to get too cool for something that smells like the beach. During these times it’s best to invest in a handful of cross-overs, this is a time for fun, as it is a 40-50 day window at best.

Here is a perfect time to invest in smaller vials of great fragrances (like the samples you can buy at Luckyscent) that may last you no more than a couple weeks. Some of the greatest flowers on earth (or best vintages of wines) only last but a glimpse of time.

What and Where: find it at and sample provided by-  Aedes de Vensutas

  • Enter Hierbas de Ibiza’s signature fragrance:

The Scoop (from the Aedes Website)

“If you have been lucky enough to visit Ibiza, you may know of the virtues of this magic island, where the maxim “live and let live” is particularly meaningful. HIERBAS DE IBIZA in the entire spectrum of its execution, seeks to be harmonious with the spirit of Ibiza, a land in which Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs and Christians, to name a few have dwelled, and that still today receives visitors from all over the world. The fragrance HIERBAS DE IBIZA, composed of herbs and plants of Ibiza finds it’s real definition and inspiration in the simplicities of this universe of freedom that is Ibiza.

“A fresh herbal fragrance for men and women inspired by the unique Mediterranean aromas of the island of Ibiza. It is made with the natural essences of orange and lemon peel, thyme, lavender, sage, verbena, jasmine and orange blossoms.”

The Stuff...

Hierbas de Ibiza Review

At first whiff it smells not unlike a bit of tonic water and lime dribbled on a fern; this opens to a much more varied array of citrus… lemons, limes and other exotic citrus like kaffir lime and Meyer lemon (I will leave out Buddha’s hand for sake of seeming to affected). It goes dull for just a second before bursting with stronger gin-and-tonic notes centered by a plume of powderiness, but not too much. Iris, wisteria, neroli (orange blossom flower) and other Meddietrenean flowers mix in a smell that never verges on the foppish or “un-manly” (it is a very unisex fragrance however). Reminds me, and this may just be misplaced nostalgia talking, of sitting on the coast of Montenegro, peering out into the salty Adriatic from the shade under wisteria-chocked pergola, sipping on a crisp Croatian white.

The latter notes rumble by softly with whiffs of sand, cashmere and a slight, ever so soft, woodsy (sandalwood?) aroma that leaves off slightly sweet and still crisp. The finish, which lasts for some time, is light, pleasing and homey… very reminiscent of that comfy ‘just out of the dryer’ smell with a nuance of lavender and lasts forever—this will make whoever is near you come in a little closer no doubt about it.

Bordeaux Vintage Round up: The Buying Guide- PAUILLAC 2009

25 Jun 53888565.ChateauLatour

IF Margaux is elegance and flowers; vinified potpourri, and St. Julien vinous garam-masala (Indian spice mix) then Pauillac is a leather-couch-ed cigar-room. From a lithe Margaux, to a irreverently flirtatious St. Julien, we go to something with brawniness and a whopping punch of tannins, brown spices and all the preciously Englihsh descriptors so often associated with claret: dark cassis, fresh pencil shavings, tobacco, cedar etc.

Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron

In truth, I have always said that Pauillac is the proto-typical Bordeaux: it has the litany of flavours and aromas that are what most people talk about when they talk about Bordeaux.

Paulliac of course also boasts three of the five First Growths: Chateau Latour, Mouton-Rotschild and Lafite; although here the difference in character has more to do with there they are relative to the two contiguous appellations on its borders; St. Julien to the south and St. Estephe to the north.

The Place

Herein is the intriguing thing about these estates, Chateau Latour located at the most extreme south of the appellation (a frog could jump from Latour’s Pauillac vinyards to the adjacent vinyeards of St. Julien Chateau Beychevelle with little to no effort)-( a small estuary, the Ruisseau de Juillac serves as the borderline between the two). In contrast Chateau Lafite is located ath the most northern extreme of the appellation; the venerable estate is a stone’s throw away from Chateau Cos d’Estournel almosty literally across the street. Between the southern most vineyards of the appellation which include those of Chateau Batailley, the Pichon-Longuevilles (Baron and Comtesse) there is a wide spance of mostly Cru Classe Vineyards with, going from South to North (Chateau Latour towards Chateau LAfite) one passes by Pauillac’s other infamous names: Chateay Beychevelle, Lynch-Bages, and after a bit of a break when in the northern part of the appellation Chateau Pibran and more notably Pontet-Canet.

The "second label" of Pichon-Longueville Comtesse

I go through this painful recounting to illustrate a point and that is that we currenly, for the sake of the 1855 classification and our own sanity have divided up the northern Medoc into four major appellations (five if you count Haut-Medoc) but the truth is that even within Paulliac (a mere 8 kilometers or so top to bottom)there does exists ‘sub appellations’ if you will and some subtle differences between estates depending on when they are on the map and the subsoil’s. Here I refer to the differences (slight as they may be) between the wines of and around St. Lambert whifs of mild spice but heaftier, Bages and Pauillac proper, and further north when they become more angular (in a good way) in Pouyalet. But this is getting a bit excruciating. These variations are less notable in St. Julien as most of Estate’s vineyards are plots scattered across the appellation and through blending you end up with a faitly consistent set of wines, regardless of the estate, in different degrees of excellence. Some of that also goes for Margaux (which boasts several little-known ‘pseudo-sub appellations’), Pauillac less so.

Okay- if you’re new to the Bordeaux game forget all the BS above: just know this: Pauillac= powerful, red and brown flavors, proto-typical Bordeaux, drunk best after a decade or two depending on the estate and vintage. Overall 2009 Pauillac shined with far less inconsistencies than Margaux’s minefield

If you like smoking jackets and cigars (and most of you do…) then you’ll like Pauillacs. Pauillacs are smoking jackets, cigars and velvet slippers personified.

The following is a list of wines from the Pauillac region from the 2009 vintage. The wines were all tasted March 29th in a controlled temperature room out of Riedel wine glasses. The wines were not tasted blind. All wines were barrel samples. Any exception to the above are noted. Notes by Alejandro Ortiz.

Alejandro’s Ratings:

O/P: Ok/ Poor

G: Good

VG: Very Good

GR: Great

E: Excellent (an intermediary between Great but not Fantastic)

FA: Fantastic

AM: Amazing

The first sub rating a “+” or “-“ is given for original impression on the nose and palate followed by a subsequent sub-rating for it’s overall performance within its rating.

  • Chateau Grand Puy-Ducasse
    • VG—
      • Muscled red fruit, deep and penetrating, tobacco et al: typical Pauillac.
  • Ch. Haut-Batailley
    • VG++-
      • Improving every year- very very nice.
  • Second Tasting @ UGC Tasting: GR—
    • Bing cherry, earth and very French.
  • Ch. d’Armailhac
    • VG+++
      • Never been a huge fan preffering Clerc-Milon’s playfulness more but this was beautiful, again typical Pauillac nose and taste. Will last!
      • Second Tasting @ UGC Tasting: G/VG+–
        • Velvety with a core of brambly red fruit and earth.
  • Ch. Clerc-Milon
    • G–+
      • Lighter than I ever remember it, lithe and pretty- but not great.
      • Second Tasting @ UGC Tasting: VG++1
        • Very different than first tasting- much brighter. Buy.
  • Ch. Croizet-Bages
    • VG—
      • Cedar, pines with nice red fruit- wow, what a great value!
  • Ch. Haut-Bages Liberal
    • VG+++
      • Best in a while although it is a very consistent estate- incredibly balanced, supple, red velvety fruit with a core of gaminess. Beautiful.
  • Ch. Lynch-Bages
    • G+++/VG+–
      • Muscular and a tart black fruit background but ostensibly a beautiful wine.
  • Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste
    • VG—
      • Lots of tobacco and deep red/brown fruit.
  • Le Petit Mouton
    • G+++
      • Not great (obviously)
  • Ch. Pichon-Baron
    • GR+++
      • Lilac, pink fruits, flower and an overall smooth and silky texture- beautiful! Fabulous, best in years!
  • Second Tasting @ UGC: FA+–
  • Third Tasting @ Chateau Pichon-Baron: FA++-
  • Ch. Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
    • FA
      • Exceptional, my god! Could be confused with a Margaux, so beautiful, so much perfume. Amazing, velvet, red and purple fruit, a strong bouquet of Croatian wild lavender (ok, this may sound like bullshit but I was in and out of Croatia during this time and trust me that’s what it smelled like). Amazing, fabulous.
  • Second Tasting @ Chateau Pichon-Longueville Lalande: FA
    • My goodness, what consistent magic. This, guys, is frightingly exceptional with an undying finesse, great structure and a nearly infinite finish. Very impressed!
  • Third Tasting @ UGC: ?
    • This was so great, and I was so excited, I cannot read any of the notes I wrote about it, I can make out one expletive however.
  • Second Wine: Reserve de la Comtessee: FA
    • Tasted several times and always absolutely fabulous. Try the Latour challenge with this too (see below Latour notes).
  • Ch. Forts de Latour
    • FA+–
      • Holy enamel-peeling-tannins Batman! This boy’s huge! Together with almost every second label this year; there is such a conserted effort being paid to their quality and makeup that there surpass some off vintages of the Grand Vins, moreover they are wines onto themselves usually coming from plots of vines entirely dedicated to their production (as opposed to being blended from the Grand Vin’s leftovers). Spectacular, muscled—I challenge someone out there to serve this blind to a so-called ‘wine expert’ fifteen years from now and I will wager a small car, right here and now, if he doesn’t think this is a Chateau Latour!
  • Ch. Latour
    • FA+++
      • A brooding monster, monolithic, tobacco-dark-chocolate and dark tarry tobacco-dripping wine. Immense, beautiful and could very qualify as a “nuclear holocaust wine” (see previous posts here). Unbelievable.
  • Ch. Mouton
    • GR—
      • Better than I’ve tasted in a while, MUCH better
  • Ch. Lafite-Rothschild
    • AM—
      • Ethereal and magical as always, stupendous.

The Obsession (and yes 2001 is drinking great!)

Overall Impression of the Pauillac 2009

  • GR-FA : great to fantastic

Yes- while I didn’t remember before looking over my notes to write this post that Pauillac certainly provided some of the most memorable wines of the vintage. Moreover it did so consistently. From top to bottom the wines were exuding elegance within the broad-shouldered power that is common to all Pauillacs. These are wines that have upwards of 20-30 years worth of girth and power—but revisiting the irresistibly dismembered 1982’s it’s really anyone’s guess whether wines have been refined to the point of limited longevity. Still these all have a while. Notable, again, because it’s an overall trend this vintage was the high quality of the second labels with some, like Forts de Latour and Comtesse de Lalande being fabulous and complex wines on their own. If investment is what your after then the advice is always simple: buy from the top, and with Pauillac buy a lot and fearlessly.

If you are buying to drink, look for some early maturers like Clerc-Milon, Lacoste-Borie (second wine of Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste), Lynch-Moussas, and Chateau Bernadotte because the big boys have a long long way to go.

2009 Pauillac Top 3:

  1. Chateau Latour
  2. Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
  3. Chateau Lafite-Rothschild

2009 Pauillac Underdogs (buy to surprise)

  1. Chateau Haut-Batailley
  2. Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal/ Chateau d’Armailhac
  3. ANY AND ALL SECOND LABELS

Americana International Inc. From New York Times Magazine

24 Jun 18blackerby-mudd-tmagArticle

JUNE 18, 2010, 4:55 PM

Wanderlust | Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold

By JEFFRIES BLACKERBY
Erik Thor

Now that there’s a Red Wing concept store in Berlin, you can buy Filson in Paris, and scarves from Brooklyn’s Hill-Side have made it to Amsterdam and Trieste, it’s clear that the fetishization of American “heritage” style is no longer just for American men. And few shops in Europe are more faithfully dedicated to heirloom denim and classic work wear than the new Stockholm shop Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold. The name alone, taken from a Townes Van Zandt classic, is like Carharts incarnate. The shop, in Södermalm, the city’s answer to Brooklyn and the only party of town that could be called gritty, is outfitted almost entirely in unfinished knotty pine boards; they line the walls and form blocky benches and tables for merchandise that includes Mr. Freedom work shirts, Quoddy moccasins, Pendleton blankets and Wesco motorcycle boots. And true to the cult of craftsmanship, the narrative behind every company the store does business with is highlighted on its Web site. The expertly focused selection of brands includes plenty of international origin — canvas satchels from Brady Bags of England, founded in 1877; Grunden rain gear (Sweden, 1926); jeans by The Real McCoy’s (Japan, 1990) — but the effect is nonetheless a mashup of styles that feels unmistakably American. Easy rider meets California gold miner meets New England stevedore, all crammed into your dad’s tool shed, circa 1976.

Manual to a Young Gentlemen’s Wardrobe: The Navy Blazer

20 Jun seersucker

The Navy Blazer

FEWER things in a man’s wardrobe as indispensable, with exceptions like socks and underwear, as a navy blazer. As hinted at by the New York Times coverage of Pitti Uomo (here), the world’s most important mensware event hosted yearly in Flrocence, Navy blazer’s popularity and future hipness and ubiquitness is here to stay. Not only that- but every major designer has versions of the venerable article of man’s fashion.

The blazer’s origin can be found somewhete in the realm between mythological legent and perpetual fact. It is said that Queen Victoria was once upon a time set to review her Navy. On her tour was the the ship HRM Blazer; the captain embarrassed at the condition of his crews uniform and eager to make an impression is said to have ripped down a navy-blue said and had a local tailor fashion jackets out of them thus creating an everlasting sartorial meme: the navy blazer. (another story contends that the term originally belonged to the ‘blazing red’ jackets the rowing team from one Britian’s gilded schools wore).

Indeed the word ‘blazer’ technically only refers to a navy-colored jacket and for true purists one that is double-breasted and bedazzled with brass buttons. For today’s definition we will cindlude the other ‘modern’ standard of two or three-buttoned jackets: everything else is a sportscoat.

A Gentlemen’s Guide to Sartorial Minutia: The Jacket

  • Matching jacket+trousers= suit
  • Jacket with different color trousers= sports jacket
  • Single or double-breasted navy jacket (with brass buttons)= a blazer
  • Navy jacket with black or brown buttons= a sports jacket

The definitive look

As with any jacket one needs to keep it simple, especially if it’s your first rendition of said article of clothing, so we recocmend that you start out with a two-button notch-lapel blazer (with or without brass buttons). Hint: the standard brass buttons blazer comes with are meant to be replaced with those emblazoned with the family crest, initials or the sumbol of your regimen… of course many of these things simply don’t apply anymore. So, instead you can keep them on or replace them with silver ones or perhaps peruse the selection at your local flea market or ebay.

The Fit

The downside of the navy blazer is that it’s been around for a long time and like anything that is somewhat ubiquitous, and in this case a fashion-commodity, most renditions re there are bad, boxy and poorly made. SO look carefully and try a blazer on, walk around the store, sit down, look at it with the buttons open, with the buttons closed etc. There is nothing effeminate at posing at the mirror, remember others will look at you far more than you will look at yourself, so make sure the jacket fits right. It should sit comfortably on your shoulders without the seam going far beyond your shoulder proper, and no shoulderpads, ever. If you are a young man, or have a slim frame, stick to model with higher armholes, narrower arms and a bit of a shorter cut (unless you’re tall of course). Tall men would benefit from three buttons, shorter, talkier guys with two to even one. Men of medium or “rpund frames” should still stick to a narrower cut and the width of the lapels should match the width of the face. Have a wide face or a large frame? Opt for wider peak lapels. But, whatever you do, whatever your frame pick the right size, you shouldn’t look like you’re wearing a sack (it’s not complimenting).

(photos courtesy of The  Sartorialist )

The Navy Blazer: The Advantages

  • Very versatile: can be worn with a button shirt, tie or no tie, a polo shirt, or if you’re the hip type a white v-neck t-shirt or Henley. You can wear with jeans (the wash needs to be lighter than the jacket), khakhis (warning, you can look like a shclepp in the pants are too baggy or pleated), white pants (for a very modern look) down to adventurous things like pastel yellow, striped blue, red, or seersucker. Moreover, for a more formal setting, a navy blazer with grey trunks looks incredibly smart.

A Versatile combo...

  • Can be dressed up: grey trousers, repp tie; ready for business.

The Office

  • Can be dressed preppy: red pants and a white polo? White pants and a bottle of champagne. Foppish, hell no! (more on this later).

\

(photos courtesy of Esquire and The Sartorialist)
  • Can be dressed down: v-neck t-shirt and jeans.

(photo courtesy of GQ)

  • The ultimate business-trip jacket (see above).
  • It’s hip but, moreover and infinitely most importantly: It’s timeless.

    Cool, safe, unpretentious, preppy- masculine.

The Navy Blazer: The Disadvantages

  • It’s popular and sartorially ubiquitous which means there are many styles out there with special renditions, features and atributes in order to distinguish one from the other. For the first one: Keep it simple! Start basic, then go from there (you know, the blazer with white piping? That’s level 5).

The next level.

  • The Khaki conundrum. It seems natureal: navy blazer with kahki pants. Right? But this is a the problem, it’s so ubiquitous and overused by schkleppy banking types and no-nothing frat-boys that the look, often an oversized sack-jacket and baggy pants, has gotten a bad wrap. It’s a good look and a classic one, but it needs to be done carefully, see below:

The unfortunate archetype: too big, too baggy, too schleppy

The right way to do khaki+navy blazer.

  • Choices. There are simply too many choices so let’s go to our buying guide:

TGG’s Navy Blazer Buying Guide

  • Start Simple and basic for the first Navy Blazer:
    • Notch lapel
    • Two button
    • Standard Navy color
    • Light wool (so it can be used year-round)
    • Lined
    • Slim cut: should be slightly pinched at the waist, narrow arms, higher armhoples. Dapper and proper.
    • Be willing to spend; you only need one right? So do it right. A good Navy Blazer may cost anywhere from $120USD to $900USD. A notable exeption is Uniqlo’s unlined Navy blazer which is, in short, fantastic.

Upgrades:

  • Pocket squares: silk, cotton and linen- don’t be afraid. Go from simple white linen to colorful prints: Make it count.

The diversifier... (courtesy of the Sartorialist)

  • Different materials: the summer one (unlined, linen, cotton) to winter (wool, velvet, tweed) down to the stylish and unique (knit, patched, etc… see above picture).

Some ideas:

Navy Blazer cool (from the Sartorialist)

A stylish Combo (from Kinoware.com)

Top 10 for Navy Blazers

  1. J. Press (sack suits- get the a size smaller and have them tailored)
  2. J. Crew
  3. Brook’s Brothers (Black Fleece is slimmer)
  4. Uniqlo (fantastic- lightweight and inexpensive)
  5. Zara
  6. Etro
  7. Cucinelli
  8. Ralph Lauren
  9. Zegna
  10. Kitton

Bespoke Life from the NYT: Why Does This Pair of Pants Cost $550?

11 May save-khaki_062308
by: Eric Wilson for the New York Times | 28 April, 2010

EVEN in a season when designers made no secret about reining in prices to appeal to the newly chastened luxury consumer, it is still possible to walk into a store and wonder what exactly they were thinking when a pair of khaki cotton pants — right there on the hanger, no special packaging or 3G plan or anything — can cost as much as an iPad.

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY? There is a rationale for the price of Band of Outsiders khakis, but does it make sense?

Never mind that classic button-fly chinos at Abercrombie & Fitch cost $70 or that Gap sells “original khakis” for $44.50. The fact that luxury chinos exist — and in surprising numbers — is another story, one that illustrates the challenge faced by designers to justify the still sky-high prices of their clothes. A distinctive design might strengthen the argument, but is $550 really a fair price for basic pants?

How about $480, for plain khakis from Michael Bastian? Or $495 for light cotton twill pants from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of The Row? Or $595 if they are by Giorgio Armani? Or $780 for ones with elasticized cuffs from Bottega Veneta? Or is $350, as Thom Browne charges for chinos, the right price? The range suggests that since the luxury bubble burst, designers have no clue what customers are willing to pay.

“The cost of creating those things has nothing to do with the price,” said David A. Aaker, the vice chairman of Prophet, a brand consulting firm. “It is all about who else is wearing them, who designed them and who is selling them.”

Yet, from the designers’ perspective, there is value to be found in pants that are thoughtfully designed with high-quality materials and labor. For new designers, like Scott Sternberg, whose Band of Outsiders label is largely defined by preppy basics that are studiously fitted and expensively priced, it costs more to make his clothes because they are often produced in small batches. His cotton gabardine khakis, sold at Bergdorf Goodman, cost $550.

“It sounds crazy to say this, I know, but our pants are a steal,” Mr. Sternberg said. To make his case, he gave a tour of the factory where they are made, Martin Greenfield in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where little has changed in the production of tailored clothing in a century.

A man was hovering over an 80-year-old contraption called a jump iron, hot enough to mold fabrics into shapes they will be unlikely to forget. Another man basted panels of suit fabric to springy canvas, which makes the garment more flexible. In a machine-made jacket, the canvas would be fused or glued into a suit. Mr. Sternberg’s khakis are tailored like dress pants, and the details are largely sewn by hand, including buttonholes and split waistbands, which can be altered easily. The fabric, which costs $24 a yard, plus $3 a yard to import, is a cotton gabardine fine enough to withstand basting stitches. About two yards, counting for boo-boos and such, is used to make a pair of pants, so the fabric cost is $54.

CHECK OUT THE CUFFS Bottega Veneta cotton pants, $780.

At Martin Greenfield, a union shop where employees earn about $13 an hour, before benefits, it takes an average of four hours of labor to make a pair of pants. The pants pass through the hands of at least 20 people in the process of cutting fabric, adding pockets and building out a fly. So with labor and fabric, the cost to make Mr. Sternberg’s pants was about $110 — a fifth of what they cost in a store.

The final price reflects the markups of the designer and the retailer, what they charge to cover expenses, pay their employees and, with luck, make a profit on what sells to cover the losses on what does not. Mr. Sternberg doubles the cost to arrive at a wholesale price of $220. The retailer adds another markup, typically a factor of 2.5, which brings us to $550.

Is it too much?

Not if that’s what people are willing to pay, Mr. Aaker said. Jeffrey New York had some nice Gucci chinos with a tiny tab of red-and-green striped ribbon at the waistband for about $500. They sold out.

A machine might make pants more cheaply, Mr. Sternberg said, but for a designer who wants to be known for quality, what would be the value in that?

Bespoke Life: Review- Creed Winsdor

6 May The Stuff

Not sure if it qualifies as a summer-scent but it is great! I covered it here some time back when it was released by Creed as a special limited edition line of 300 flacons. The perfume “Windsor, created in 1936 for King Edward VIII of England from ingredients grown in the British Empire.”  So what does it smell like?

The Stuff

It starts off with a strong Juniper note (India) to a quite intense parsley aroma, a sort of green cleanness of English fern. With a bit more time that greenness begins to open up to a slight powderiness and a very small hint of tuberose (maybe) and bitter orange with that strong fern characteristic front and center. Smelling it on paper, performs quite differently on skin however.

TGG Classification: Evening Spring and summer / Sunny Fall

Suggested Use: Evening white party on a boat. The proverbial late evening outdoor dinner. A date.

Week 2 of use: I must say this fragrance has grown on me more and more as I continue to use it and what seemed to me, initially, as a very powedery white aldehyde scent has revealed to be completely different: I get green, lots of it, fern, willow, and juniper with hints of lime oil in the background. Very sophisticated and very, very nice…

Bespoke Life: Champagne for New Year’s Celebrations

29 Dec

WE at the Young Gentlemen’s Guide fully endorse champagne, in its myriad guises and endless incarnations; but not all champagne is made equal. Some are factory made product churned out with the soulless quality of a cola; other’s are fretted over and handcrafted by artisans whose livelihood depends on every drop of bubbly nectar. Our list of amazing champagnes would fill up volumes but for now we shall cut the chase; with New Year’s Celebrations around the corner Bespoke Life brings you a “special” list of three great, one-of-a-kind champagnes to bring in the New Year:

“Cuvee Creation” by Vilmart & Cie, Rilly   1999

Our esteemed Editor-in-Chief’s tasting notes: “Another grower champagne that makes me question the meaning of life– “Can anything truly be this good?” Decant, white wine glasses, forget all the willy-nilly champagne fluff… this is wine with bubbles, make no mistake–unforgettable. “

“Brut Entre Ciel et Terre” by Françoise-Bedel et Fils, Marne

“This is the champagne that opened my eyes to the wonders of everything non-commercial grower/ artisan champagne could be. Madame Françoise Bedel is a stout quiet woman, who shies away and smiles a tight smirk every time I tell her how much I love her wine… “It’s because of my son, you see…” she tells me in her heavy Champenoise French. Her son was a sickly child and when Françoise took him to a doctor in Paris she was told that part of his asthma was the pesticides and fertilizers in the vineyards where they lived; “He told me we had to move out of our house and I refused… I knew there had to be another way.” So she made a few calls and found out about the still little known practice of biodynamic and organic viticulture, she tried it out, and it worked. Better yet, her son’s health dramatically improved… and so did the wine! Madame Bedel was convinced. Her son, who I am sure has heard the simply several thousand times, simply stands by proudly as the muse of an incredible champagne, “We do it all naturally,” he assures “most importantly we do it all ourselves.” To me this is one of the best, if anything for its shear value; it is not about power but about ethereal grace a round crispness and minerality mixed in with a mother’s love and tenacity.” (Buy it here)

« Cuvée Œnothèque » by Dom Pérignon 1966

(all right, we give, not from a small producer but rare and amazing…)

“Haunting, it could have been the fact that I was tasting these in the caves that Dom Perignon himself made his first champagne or the crisp cool air of fall in the tiny tucked-away town of Hautviller? Mostly I return to this champagne, whose sparse bubbles hold together a canvas of candied blood orange peel, ginger, brioche, and creme brulée in with nuances of pear, white tea. I can still remember the taste of that bit of a dream which has not wasted nor faded away in half-century since the grapes were picked– no champagne glasses here!” (buy it here)

A Note from Alejandro: Why on bubbly Earth decant Champagne?

I have had many people look at me with that pitying face as they ask themselves “… what is that boy doing?” Yes there have been many people mystified and some outright horrified by my custom of decanting certain choice champagnes. I discovered the art of decanting champagnes in Champagne! Yes Virginia, they decant champagne in Champagne. A fact not well known in Paris perhaps, but the decanting of champagne has existed since bubbly wine came into existence. Before the discovery of riddling, whereby the sediment of the second fermentation in the bottle is removed, champagne was decanted to separate it from the harmless but unsightly gooey mass of yeast which would stick and sink to the bottom of the bottle.

Champagne back then was much different that what it is now and most people would not recognize it by tasting it. Before the onslaught of stainless steel fermenters and oceans of over-priced generic big-brand champagne, the wines for champagne were aged in oak and heavy with Pinot Noir, yielding wines of great intensity which like any other white wine (like Grand Cru Burgundy, California Chardonnay and some white Riojas) needed to breathe a little and shake-off some of that bottle fatigue before it blossomed into the beautiful wine you paid for. The same with some, I stress, some, champagnes. They are wines first and sparkling wines second… the base-wine of these special champagnes (namely grower champagnes and cuvées de préstige) are absolutely incredible. One only looses about 5% of the bubbles in the process as champagne is not carbonated but has had the carbon dioxide, which the yeast gives off; naturally dissolve back into the liquid. By decanting it one slightly heightens the intensity of the acidity and lets the mature wine, which has been cramped in a bottle like a butterfly in its cocoon, spread its wings and show off its magic. Cheers!- AO

Bespoke Life: Creed Windsor

23 Nov

Creed Windsor

Because every so often, you want to smell like you, and not like everyone else. Because you want something unique, something that will exist on this earth for only a little while and you are a part of it. That’s something no one can take away from you.

 

The Item

 

 

From Creed’s Website:

CREED of Paris offers the public for the first time ever — and only online here http://www.creedboutique.com — the extraordinary fragrance Windsor, created in 1936 for King Edward VIII of England from ingredients grown in the British Empire. Edward was the first air pilot to be king, and Windsor is presented in a shatterproof 1.7 oz. leather wrapped bottle ideal for aircraft carry-on (or in an 8.4 oz. flacon numbered by laser and signed by sixth-generation master perfumer Olivier CREED).

Only 320 bottles and 70 flacons will be available in the U.S. Edward made headlines when he quit the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. He wore Windsor as king and later when he and his wife began a new life in Paris as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, superstars of international society.

  • Classification: Citrus / Green. Windsor is as subtle as the Duke of Windsor’s hand-tailored suits, shirts and ties, following his philosophy, “Royalty need not shout”
  • Top Note: Windsor is a tour of the British Empire Edward once ruled. Its top note is British gin, Jamaican lime and a touch of Scottish highland pine.
  • Middle Note: “Duke of Windsor” roses, those he preferred in his own garden, the Nuits de Young variety.
  • Bottom Note: Bahamian orange, Canadian cedar and a dab of Australian eucalyptus.

 

 

 

 

 

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