August 2026

Every 15 May, Chile marks Día del Pisco – a national toast to the grape spirit that has been distilled in the Elqui, Atacama and Coquimbo valleys since the sixteenth century, and which carries its own Denominación de Origen protecting the name for producers in those regions alone. It's a spirit built on sun: high-altitude vineyards, some of the clearest skies on earth, and Muscat grapes that ripen into something intensely aromatic before they ever reach the still.

I wasn't in any hurry to get from Edinburgh to Kelso. The drive through the Scottish Borders is one of those routes that's worth taking your time over, with quiet roads, rolling countryside and villages that tempt you to stop more often than you'd planned. It also seemed the ideal opportunity to get to know the new Mazda CX-5.

The car I was driving was fuelled by sustainable fuel from Sustain, produced by recycling atmospheric CO₂. It's part of Mazda's belief that there isn't a single answer to reducing emissions and that different technologies will all have a role to play.