Arriving at Naturhotel Forsthofgut feels like stepping into a perfectly balanced world - one where the warmth of a family-run retreat meets the refined elegance of a five-star hotel. Nestled at the foot of the Asitz Mountain in Leogang, it’s the kind of place where the air carries the scent of pine and wood, mingling with the aroma of freshly baked bread in the morning, and where hospitality is more than just a service; it’s second nature.
Step inside the newly launched Liverpool Street Chop House & Tavern and you feel a sense of London’s dining history humming through the walls. Part tavern, part chop house, this is both a nod to the City’s 17th-century eating houses and a modern reinvention, where heritage and produce are treated with equal reverence.
Every extraordinary meal is elevated by the company. On this occasion, I was joined by three luminaries from the worlds of hospitality, design, and gastronomy.
The Alpine A110 R 70 arrives like a perfectly timed coup de théâtre—the final act of a 70-year love affair between Dieppe's engineers and the art of making automobiles dance. This 70th anniversary edition is, quite literally, the last of its breed before Alpine succumbs to the electric revolution. Consider it the automotive equivalent of Catherine Deneuve’s final film: impossibly beautiful, utterly French, and destined to leave you pining for what once was.
One of the things I love most about wine is how it refuses to sit still. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes a bottle that’s been resting in a river two hundred metres underground, or a grape variety you thought had vanished, suddenly shining again in a glass. In this issue I’ve been tasting wines with stories of rescue and resilience, growers saving old vines from the axe, families bringing abandoned plots back to life, and cooperatives keeping traditions alive against the odds. They’re reminders that wine is never just about flavour.
White Peak Distillery’s Necessary Evil Returns
Turn off the A6 and into the Derwent Valley and you’re in another world. The old Johnson & Nephew wire works loom over the river, relics of a time when men clocked in for twelve-hour shifts and left coated in soot and metal dust. Today part of that site is White Peak Distillery, founded in 2016 by Max and Claire Vaughan. What could easily have been left to crumble has instead become Derbyshire’s first whisky distillery, with a still house that feels as much cathedral as factory.
It’s not often that a whisky takes you from the Highlands of Scotland to the forests of northern Japan, all while sitting in Leicester Square. Yet that was the atmosphere at 8 at The Londoner Hotel, where Glengoyne unveiled its latest limited edition: the Mizunara Oak 16 Year Old. I love these tastings, as I got to see my friends, enjoy plates of Japanese inspired finger food, and have wonderful whisky and cocktails. I have been so busy recently that I almost pulled out, but am very pleased that I didn’t.
For the Alpine A110 R 70 Tour, we took that feather-light French racer—the automotive equivalent of a bespoke Yves Saint Laurent dinner jacket—and let it loose on the winding backroads of Sussex, heading to the rather fabulous Star Hotel in Alfriston.
A Wild Lust Tour Begins: Lexus NX 450+ Takumi
A Weekend with the Audi Q8 in the Cotswolds
The Audi Q8 SUV 50 TDI MHEV is a bold statement, far from shy and retiring. For our latest luxury motoring escapade, we toured the Cotswolds, gliding from the genteel splendour of the Greenway Hotel near Cheltenham to the utterly fabulous Chalk Restaurant at Wiston Estate winery.
Unearthing Wine, Wonder, and the Heart of the Rhône
The sun rises over the vineyards of southern France, scattering gold across a landscape steeped in centuries of viticultural tradition. As we continue our journey through the Côte du Rhône, we delve deeper into the region’s enchanting terroir, unearthing not only exceptional wines but also the stories, people, and natural marvels that make this corner of France so captivating.
