Sommaire pour Dec-15 -interactive de Robb Report

CARROLL SHELBY TOOK aim at Ferrari’s 250 GTO when he and his scrappy team rolled out the Daytona Cobra Coupe for the 1964 racing season. Like an early version of Shelby’s AC-bodied Cobra roadster, the coupe was powered by Ford’s 289 cu in V-8, which was topped with a quartet of Weber carburetors. The newer car, however, had aerodynamic advantages over the roadster, which was limited in top speed because of its open architecture. The coupe was penned by then-24-year-old Peter Brock, and with development driver Ken Miles at the wheel, it achieved a Ferrari-beating speed of 190 mph when the design was fully sorted. After finishing second in its class in the 1964 FIA World Sportscar Championship, the Daytona Cobra Coupe won the 1965 title. Shelby American is building…

MAGNIFICENT MACHINES Lucky Charm BEARING THE CLOVERLEAF emblem and name that identify the brand’s fastest and most powerful model variants, the forthcoming Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (alfaromeousa.com) was introduced in Italy in June and is expected to arrive in the United States in 2016. According to Alfa Romeo, the sedan posted the fastest lap time ever for a four-door production car at the Nürburgring, the racetrack in Germany that serves as a proving ground for high-performance vehicles. The Giulia Quadrifoglio is powered by a 505 hp biturbo V-6 that enables a zero-to-60-mph time of 3.8 seconds. It will be the first Alfa Romeo sedan sold in the United States in 20 years. The company has yet to announce the car’s price. —ROBERT ROSS Seek and Enjoy SET TO LAUNCH this…

“IF YOU ARE going to do the climb,” Wiebe Moeys told me, “you should skip wine with lunch.” Moeys, a guide on my Trek Travel cycling trip through Tuscany and the Italian Riviera, offered wise but disheartening counsel—especially considering we were at a charming outdoor trattoria in the medieval hill town of Montecarlo, not far from the Chianti region. While I managed to abstain from the bounty of the surrounding vines, I could not resist a bowl of hearty wild-boar stew with polenta. The dish was as rich as it was delicious—and no better for a climb than a glass of wine. Hard work and indulgence strike a balance on any itinerary with Trek Travel, a luxury outfitter that leads cycling trips throughout Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.…

MUCH LIKE swinging a sledgehammer or devouring a 32-ounce por terhouse steak, driving an honest-to-god muscle car can satisfy a primordial urge. The new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat did the trick in August, addressing my desire to move fast and make noise en route from Los Angeles to the Monterey Peninsula for the annual car-week festivities. SRT, Chrysler’s high-performance division, bills the Hellcat as the fastest and most powerful muscle car ever. The sedan’s rumbling 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 develops 707 hp and 650 ft lbs of torque, enabling a zero-to-60-mph time of about 3.6 seconds and a top speed one tick shy of 200 mph. Its straight-line performance is especially impressive considering that its frontal aspect is as wide as a bull rhino’s and its weight is nearly 4,500 pounds.…

THE gift DeepFlight’s new 16-foot-long, two-person submersible. $1.5 million ALTHOUGH THE NEW DeepFlight Dragon submersible can dive as deep as 400 feet below the surface of an ocean or lake, it is as easy to operate as any personal watercraft. In fact, because the sub is controlled with a lever and a joystick, maneuvering it evokes playing a video game. The Dragon is designed with tandem seating, and each cockpit has its own set of controls. Two pairs of vertical propellers—one at the nose and one at the stern—enable the vessel to hover at depths. The Dragon uses a pair of tail-mounted fixed thrusters to turn, and when it pitches or rolls, DeepFlight’s proprietary stabilization system keeps it level. The Dragon is inherently buoyant, so in the event of a…

THE gift A one-of-a-kind strand of rare golden South Sea pearls produced by Jewelmer Joaillerie. One night at the Peninsula Manila for the recipient and a guest. Transportation by seaplane from Manila to Taytay, Palawan, for a four-night stay in a villa at Flower Island Resort. A private tour of the Jewelmer pearl farm in Taytay. A charitable donation made in the recipient’s name to the Save the Palawan Seas Foundation. STARTING AT $300,000 BUILDING A STRAND of flawless golden South Sea pearls requires tremendous patience. It takes about five years to culture a golden pearl and as long as 15 years to assemble a necklace of the highest-quality specimens, according to Jewelmer Joaillerie, a family-owned business in Palawan, the Philippines, that since the late 1970s has been producing most…

DAVID BROWN AUTOMOTIVE, an English marque that launched last year, is offering a Robb Report reader the opportunity to own the first Speedback GT ($775,000) delivered to the United States. The body of the Speedback GT—the company’s inaugural model—is made from 142 aluminum panels that are hammered, shaped, and assembled by hand during a build process that requires 3,200 hours of labor for each car. The company plans to build only 100 examples. Depending on the angle from which it is viewed, the Speedback GT calls to mind a 1960s-era grand tourer from Ferrari, Maserati, or Aston Martin. (There is no familial connection between the David Brown who founded the new auto brand and the former Aston Martin owner of the same name.) The company offers a variety of leathers…

ONE OF THE founding fathers of the 20th century’s studio furniture movement, George Nakashima saw beauty where others could not. The designer, who passed away in 1990, regularly scoured the leftovers of lumberyards, plucking up seemingly useless scraps of wood to shape some of his generation’s most prized pieces. His work has been exhibited in major museums for decades and often fetches six figures at auction. “He accentuated the flaws [in the wood] rather than cutting around them,” says Robert Aibel, founder of the Moderne Gallery in Philadelphia, the leading specialist dealer in Nakashima’s furniture. “He thought the flaws in the piece could be used aesthetically to appeal to people’s sense of nature.” For this year’s Ultimate Gift Guide, Aibel has assembled a one-of-a-kind collection of Nakashima dining-room furniture ($462,000).…

A DISAPPOINTING GIFT prompted Nathan Redfeam, a cofounder of the Harrington Group, to go into the business of building and selling fully functional half-size automobiles—or, as the company calls them, Junior Cars ($10,995 to $12,399). Years ago, he surprised his nephew with a toy version of a classic car. The car was expensive, but to Redfeam’s chagrin, its quality was poor. Redfeam, who had been involved with classic cars since he was a teenager growing up in Wales—repairing, restoring, buying, and selling them at various times—decided that he could build a better toy. Also, he figured, constructing the mini cars would help prepare the Harrington Group’s staff for his long-range plans of producing full-size electric cars. Junior Cars is one of several ventures that Redfeam operates through the Harrington Group,…

A DISTINCTIVE SET of well-made luggage is an ideal present for the consummate globe-trotter, so for this gift Bottega Veneta will fashion a made-to-order crocodile-leather ensemble that suits the recipient’s taste and travel needs. Each piece ($27,000 to $65,000) will be handcrafted to the recipient’s specifications, including the shapes, colors, hardware, and other details. Also at the recipient’s discretion will be the number of cases. (A typical set comprises six pieces: three variously sized hard-case trunks, a briefcase, a carry-on jewelry case, and a soft duffel bag.) Colors for the crocodile skin range from the company’s offerings—Nero black, Ebano brown, Tourmaline dark gray—to, perhaps, the recipient’s own signature hue (depending on availability at the time of ordering). Hardware options include brass, nickel, and gunmetal. The artisans at Bottega Veneta’s atelier…

FOR MANY CONNOISSEURS and collectors, a whisky bottled by Gordon & MacPhail is a precious commodity. The company, which was founded by James Gordon and Jon Alexander MacPhail in 1895 and has been owned by the Urquhart family since 1915, specializes in bottling rare single malts sourced from a range of Scottish distilleries. In 2010 it released a 70-year-old Mortlach, which at the time was the world’s oldest bottled single-malt whisky. It was the initial release in Gordon & MacPhail’s Generations Series and was followed by a 70-year-old Glenlivet from 1940. The name of the series refers to the generations of the Urquhart family who stewarded the spirits before they were bottled. In September, Gordon & MacPhail released what is now the oldest bottled whisky: the Generations Series’s third single…

THE OWNER OF SUERTE had two nonnegotiable requests for its design: The interior had to be modern, comfortable, and welcoming enough for him to feel as though he were coming home whenever he came aboard; and there had to be a separate entrance and set of passageways for the crewmembers, so that he and his guests could enjoy their privacy. Charter clients will appreciate those features—and others—as much as Suerte’s owner does. The 228-foot trideck, whose name is the Spanish word for “luck,” is the first launch by Italy’s Tankoa Yachts; it debuted at the Monaco Yacht Show in September. It accommodates 12 guests and a crew of 17, including the captain. The Florence-based designer Francesco Paszkowski included spacious social areas on each of Suerte’s decks. The…

A VISIT TO an antiques shop outside Bangkok led Stephen Termviriyakul to a faded Japanese painting depicting a cherry blossom festival, and at the painting’s center was a tree with wide-reaching branches. That mesmerizing form planted the seed of inspiration for the Bonsai cabinet ($16,850). Termviriyakul’s design, which is limited to just 26 examples, is nearly 6 feet long and shares attributes with other furniture from his Bangkok-based company, Muse Design (muse-th.com). “Most of Muse’s designs show the shape, color, and texture of natural things,” he says. “We always try to bring nature into the client’s life. Human beings, especially in today’s busy world, love getting closer to nature.” Close inspection of the burnt-oak cabinet reveals the handiwork in the exterior’s leaves and blossoms and in the interior’s gnarled branches,…

FOR FOOD LOVERS in Mexico City, these are heady days. Mexican chefs who made their mark abroad are returning home to open ambitious restaurants such as Rosetta, where Elena Reygadas, formerly of New York and London, creates fine pasta and seasonal Mexican fare; and Sesame, an Asian street-food restaurant from Josefina Santacruz, who oversaw the kitchen at Pampano in New York City. Meanwhile, Jorge Vallejo, who earned his stripes at home in the kitchen of Mexico City’s groundbreaking Pujol, has opened Quintonil, which is already rivaling Pujol as the city’s most innovative dining destination. Mercado Roma, a stunning new market in the city’s fashionable Roma neighborhood, has become a showcase for modern Mexican ingredients, including organic corn tortillas, single-origin coffee from Oaxaca and Veracruz, exquisite local cheeses, and artisanal mezcals.…

SHELBY AMERICAN IS building 50 Daytona Cobra Coupe continuation cars to coincide with the golden anniversary of the original Daytona Cobra Coupe’s 1965 FIA World Sportscar Championship GT III Class victory. The first of the continuation cars ($750,000) is being offered exclusively to Robb Report readers. Carroll Shelby and his crew developed the Daytona Cobra Coupe to compete with Ferrari and its 250 GTO. Only six examples were built, in 1964 and ’65 (see “Brock and Roll,” page 78), before production was derailed when Ford enlisted Shelby to work on the GT40. The Daytona Cobra Coupe’s rarity and racing success have combined to make it one of the world’s most coveted classic sports cars. This gift’s car, VIN CSX 9950, features an all-aluminum body that is polished but left unpainted.…

PURISTS BELIEVE THAT caviar is best sampled on the hand—a technique that invites informality and thus leaves guests without the thrill of ceremony. This point was not lost on Ruediger Benedikt, a Barcelona-based designer who observed the crystal and stainless-steel caviar servers available to private hosts and imagined a sophisticated revision. “I really thought that in order to give it the correct surroundings, something more opulent would be the right way to present caviar,” he says. In this case, that something is the Falcon caviar présentoir ($28,500), a handcrafted, 24-karat-gold-plated bronze creation cast using the lost-wax method. An arduous process dating back nearly six millennia, cire perdue (as the technique is often called) places a premium on quality of detail and individuality, ensuring that every piece is one of a…

AMALGAM FINE MODEL CARS of Bristol, England, is offering an exact one-fifth-scale replica of the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic ($260,000), a styling tour de force from the mid-1930s that has become one of the world’s most valuable collector cars. Bugatti built only four Atlantics, two of which have survived in their original condition. Amalgam can replicate the coachwork for any of the three Type 57SC chassis for which it has data. Shown here is a model of chassis number 57374, the first Atlantic that Bugatti produced. The car was built in 1936 and is now in the collection of the Mullin Automotive Museum in Southern California. After a restoration by its previous owner, it won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2003. The Amalgam Bugatti comprises…

IN ITS 117-YEAR HISTORY, the Hôtel Ritz in Paris has been the setting of many a momentous occasion. According to legend, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom once called for assistance while staying at the hotel, having wedged himself too tightly into his suite’s bathtub with a companion who was not his wife. In 1944, Ernest Hemingway staged a coup to liberate the Ritz’s bar from Nazi occupation. And in 1997, Princess Diana had her last meal in the hotel’s Imperial Suite. Three years ago, the grande dame overlooking the Place Vendôme marked a momentous occasion of its own, announcing that it would close for an unprecedented top-to-bottom makeover. Overseen by the French interior designer Thierry Despont, the reinvention of the Ritz—which was originally opened in 1898, by the…

FRED LEIGHTON IS perhaps best known for its remarkable collection of estate and vintage jewelry, but the New York company with more than 30 years on Madison Avenue also produces new pieces that command attention. Consider, for instance, a pair of perfectly matched, pear-shaped diamonds cut from the same rough stone: Each of the 20-carat gems is exceptional in its own right, but what makes them even more captivating is the artistic way that Fred Leighton set them in this gift’s glamorous earrings ($2.7 million). “We chose to focus the design of the earrings to sit close to the ear, accentuating the face, while bringing an exotic and regal aesthetic through rows of cascading briolette diamonds, which create a fringe and frame each pear-shaped diamond,” says the brand’s CEO, Greg…

ALISTAIR HUGHES WANTS to find your perfect match in the bedroom. As the managing director of the London-based Savoir Beds, he believes that a bed should fit like a glove—or a custom-made suit. “It’s about comfort, style, and allowing the client to have whatever they want,” he says, drawing a comparison between his company and a Savile Row tailor. “You need a bed that takes your shape.” In the spirit of sartorial artistry, Hughes hopes to design the ultimate Savoir bed collection for one Robb Report reader. The gift (starting at $1 million) revolves, literally, around a custom bed for the recipient’s master suite. The package will feature Savoir’s newest model, the Panoramic State Bed, whose first example was designed last year for a client who wished to enjoy the…

AN HOUR INTO a 10-day journey across South Africa, the Indian Roadmaster full-dress tourer was already proving its prowess as it powered up the cliff-side curves of Chapman’s Peak Drive, a highway at the southwestern extremity of the continent. When the floorboard scraped the pavement, it was a signal to ease off the throttle and reduce the bike’s lean on the switchbacks. The 1,811 cc V-twin Thunder Stroke engine adjusted smoothly, enabling the bike to effortlessly trace the coastal road as it crested and dipped down to Hout Bay on the Atlantic coast, about 12 miles south of Cape Town. The scenery evoked California’s Big Sur, with clouds pouring over sheer mountain faces in slow-motion waves, and breakers crashing on the wind-scoured beaches below. There was a chill in the…

Aaron Basha, pages 34-35 AKG by Harman, page 177 Armin Strom, page 121 Arnold & Son, page 133 Arturo Fuente, page 167 Ascot Chang, pages 36-37 Audemars Piguet, pages 24-25 Aurae, page 239 Backes & Strauss, page 140 Becker Automotive Design, pages 82-83 Bell & Ross, page 165 Bermuda Tourism, Cover 3 Black, Starr & Frost, page 135 Blackglama, page 119 Blancpain, pages 14-15 Bloomingdale's, page 251 Bombardier, page 241 Breguet, Cover 2-page 1 Bulgari, page 54 Camper & NicholsonsInternational, pages 40-41 Canyon Ranch, page 125 Capital Grille,…

HARRODS harrods.com Harrods is delighted to announce the opening of Graff Diamonds’ expanded location within The Fine Jewellery Room. In November 2015 Graff will open the doors to its stunning new boutique, which has been relocated to a larger, enhanced space. The impressive 1,242 square foot space has been created by Graff’s in-house interior design team. It features a striking monochrome marble floor, while the walls of the boutique are clad with golden dichroic glass mirrors—beautifully complementing the rich tones of deep American walnut paneled walls towards the rear of the store. MICHTER’S DISTILLERY michters.com | info@michters.com With a rich history tracing back to 1753, Michter’s exemplifies the best in American whiskeys and is featured as one of Robb Report’s 2014 Best of the Best. Michter’s Master Distiller Willie Pratt,…

THE SHOPS AT CRYSTALS theshopsatcrystals.com | 702.590.9299 The Shops at Crystals are an exquisite 500,000-square-foot luxury shopping experience on the Las Vegas Strip. Crystals houses the largest Louis Vuitton in North America, as well as flagships for Prada, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., and Ermenegildo Zegna. Additionally, Crystals features 25 unique-to-Vegas boutiques, including Tom Ford, Céline, and Dolce & Gabbana, and oversized shops for Hermès, Dior, Cartier, and Fendi to name a few. SHAMBALLA EYEWEAR shamballa-eyewear.com | 800.472.7525 Shamballa Eyewear is a collection inspired by the ancient tradition of Yoga and Meditation. Shamballa Eyewear is known worldwide for its unique designs and use of luxury materials. The Star of Shamballa is a declaration of premium quality and craftsmanship. The eyewear collection aspires to encourage the possibility of connection to our inner…

SYLVA & CIE sylvacie.com | 213.488.1444 The always enlightened fine jewelry designer, Sylva Yepremian of Sylva & Cie continues to create one-of-a-kind pieces in which each composition starts as a simple sketch. With a superior education of craftsmanship, a keen eye, and a collector of antiquities, Sylva reimagines historic icons to create styles with a modern twist. Sylva & Cie is a collection of handmade jewelry, crafted with 18k gold, and often incorporates meticulous elements such as obscure gems, hand carved stones, and ancient talismans, offering unrivaled designs that are beautiful, timeless and unexpected. AKA SERVICED RESIDENCES stayaka.com | 888.721.4846 Specializing in weekly and monthly stays, AKA balances the style and hospitality of an intimate hotel with the space and comfort of a fully appointed condominium. Tailored to the needs…

JUST A FEW years ago, Chengdu was considered a small town by Chinese standards. Known for its spicy cuisine, traditional teahouse culture, and the endangered panda bears that inhabit its surrounding mountains, the city seemed to operate at a more leisurely pace than cosmopolitan Beijing or Shanghai. Today, however, travelers arriving in the Sichuan capital discover a bustling city of gleaming skyscrapers, fashionable boulevards, and 7.5 million people, where trendy teahouses and restaurants border boutiques from Hermès, Chanel, and just about every other international luxury brand. Though business is booming in Chengdu, the culture of long walks along the Funan River and even longer lunches over a Sichuan hot pot remains the local way of life. Capturing this polarity—Chengdu’s motto could be “live fast, play slow”—is a trio of new…

WHEN THE Mystic Rock golf course at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort hosted its first PGA Tour event in 2003, the winner, J. L. Lewis, posted a final score of 22 under par. Lewis’s low mark was one factor that impelled the course’s designer, Pete Dye, to revisit the site in southwestern Pennsylvania and increase its difficulty by adding length from the championship tees. Dye returned to Nemacolin Woodlands again this summer, though his inspiration this time was not a pro but rather everyday golfers. Dye’s July visit to the Laurel Highlands–area resort marked the beginning of construction for a new nine-hole layout he is building as an extension to Mystic Rock. The addition, which is slated to open in the summer of 2017, was dictated by demand: Last year, golfers logged…

THE gift Wider’s new 150-foot superyacht. ABOUT $30 million AN EVOLUTION OF the indoor-outdoor living areas on superyachts began 25 years ago, when Blohm + Voss launched Lady Moura. The 344-footer features a hatch in the starboard side of the hull that opens to a cabana. Later yachts were designed with balconies that fold out from the main-deck master suites; among these is the 241-foot Nobiskrug build called Siren, which launched in 2008. More recently, it has become popular for yachts to have beach clubs—not just swim platforms—at the stern. For its new flagship, the 150, Wider has incorporated the fold-down balcony concept into the beach-club design and added a swimming pool. When the Wider 150 is at anchor and its 32-foot tender is deployed, the swim platform drops back…

THE gift A private charter of Silversea Cruises’ new 295-suite Silver Muse for a weeklong voyage through the Mediterranean. $2.695 million ANCHORED AMONG THE cruise ships that converge in the Mediterranean every summer, a Silversea vessel can seem quaint by comparison. The relatively discreet size of the Italian brand’s boats, none of which exceeds 270 staterooms, enables access to smaller, less-crowded ports of call and translates to a level of service and intimacy unattainable on 4,000-passenger megaships. For the ultimate sense of Silversea exclusivity—indeed, of having a boat all to yourself—the family-owned cruise line is offering one Robb Report reader the opportunity to charter its future flagship for a weeklong private journey through the Mediterranean. Silver Muse, as the line’s latest and greatest ship will be christened, is sure to…

THE gift A donation to Rhinos Without Borders to fund the organization’s capture, transport, and release of two rhinoceroses. A 10-day safari visiting andBeyond and Great Plains Conservation lodges in South Africa and Botswana. Participation in either the capture or the release of the two rhinos. STARTING AT $250,000 A HALF MILLION rhinoceroses once roamed Africa and Asia. Today, however, the wild population of the animals—whose horns are prized for supposed medicinal qualities and as status symbols in Vietnam and China—numbers less than 29,000. In fact, one rhino is killed by poachers every seven hours in South Africa alone, leaving the great beasts teetering on the brink of extinction. Rhinos Without Borders, an initiative cofounded by the African safari companies andBeyond and Great Plains Conservation, is taking drastic measures to…

NEARLY A DECADE in the making, the Icon A5 amphibious light-sport aircraft (starting at $189,000) is finally in service and ready to be flown—by new pilots and experienced ones alike—on weekend getaways, lake-hopping excursions, and camping trips. Icon Aircraft, which made its first delivery of an A5 in July, designed the unpressurized, two-seat plane to be easy and safe to operate. It has a maximum speed of just 109 mph and an FAA-limited service ceiling of 10,000 feet, and it is equipped with a full-aircraft parachute. The A5 is also the first light-sport aircraft with a spin-resistant airframe, which—like its wings, tail, internal structure, and cockpit panels—is made of carbon fiber. Flying the A5 requires a sport-pilot license, which can be obtained with only 20 hours of flight training. Owners…

THE DANISH COMPANY Georg Jensen has long embraced collaboration. Some of the century-old silver-smithing house’s most notable pieces of flatware and hollowware are the work of designers such as Harald Nielsen, Henning Koppel, and Sigvard Bernadotte, who not only were allowed to pursue their own visions but also were given their own brand signs with which to stamp their silver. With the Marc Newson tea service ($125,000), Georg Jensen keeps this venerable practice alive through a striking design for the 21st century. The set’s five sterling-silver components—creamer, sugar bowl, teapot, coffeepot, and tray—represent a return to Newson’s roots: The renowned Australian industrial designer, whose work extends from furniture and bicycles to cars and yachts, trained as a silversmith. This is, interestingly enough, his first collaboration in silver. The design was…

FOR THIS GIFT, Robb Report has assembled a Bang & Olufsen entertainment system (about $129,000) around the Danish manufacturer’s new flagship loudspeaker, the BeoLab 90. The speaker stands more than 4 feet tall, weighs about 300 pounds, and looks like a cubist sculpture. In addition to a pair of BeoLab 90s, the package includes the 85-inch BeoVision Avant 4K TV, two BeoLab 20 surround-sound speakers, and a BeoSound Moment music server. Each BeoLab 90 speaker is equipped with 18 drivers and 14 IcePower onboard digital amplifiers that deliver a total of 8,200 watts of power. The drivers have a 360-degree orientation instead of the traditional linear arrangement, with three tweeters and three midrange drivers on the front panel of the five-sided upper cabinet and four stacked tweeter/ driver sets on…

WHEN BOB PARSONS founded Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) last year, he hired a former Ping engineer and Ping’s former director of product development and gave them free rein to build the best-performing clubs they could. After spending more than $12 million on research, development, and facilities, PXG recently launched its first line of clubs. It includes drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids, all of which can be modified with a variety of interchangeable tungsten and titanium weights. The line also features irons and wedges that look like blades but offer the forgiveness of larger game-improvement clubs, as well as putters milled from stainless steel and aircraft-grade aluminum. The PXG Experience (starting at $12,500, depending on the selected clubs) is a three-day program that begins with a custom fitting with the company’s…

“You have to be patient.” This is the counsel from my front-seat passenger, the BMW factory racecar driver Bill Auberlen, as we head down the first straight at New York’s Monticello Motor Club in the 750i xDrive, the top-of-the-line variant of BMW’s all-new 7 Series. “Don’t just crank the wheel,” he says. “Anticipate the turn and glide it in.” The location begs the question of why BMW would bring media members here, to a racetrack, to drive the latest generation of its flagship. You would expect a 17-foot-long sedan to handle the circuit as nimbly and gracefully as a linebacker in full pads performing a sequence from Swan Lake. Nevertheless, I press the accelerator, tapping into the twin-turbocharged V-8’s 445 hp and 480 ft lbs of torque, and quickly increase…

IN THE RAREFIED realms where the planet’s finest wines are poured, at least five labels from California’s Napa Valley must take their rightful places alongside those designated as First Growths by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855—and one of these New World wonders is Colgin Cellars. This important red-wine producer traces its beginnings to 1992, when Ann Colgin, who worked in the fine-arts departments at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s, met the esteemed winemaker Helen Turley, whom she subsequently enlisted to make a wine for her with predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon grapes contracted from the Herb Lamb Vineyard, located on a ridge facing Howell Mountain. The result of this collaboration astounded critics. Thus encouraged, Colgin expanded her portfolio and adopted the Burgundian practice of precisely expressing the distinctive terroirs of multiple…