Ken Gargett recently had an extensive immersion into New Zealand wines for a couple of weeks, including those of Hawkes Bay, so it seemed an ideal time to look at the latest Selection, from the 2021 vintage. The other reason for doing so is that the quality of this latest Selection lifts it above anything else he has seen from this project.
Australian Master of Wine, Andrew Caillard, has finally finished the Australian wine industry’s, magnum opus, ‘The Australian Ark.’ If there is a comparable work detailing the history of wine in any other country, in such depth and in such a riveting manner, Ken Gargett is not aware of it.
Heidsieck Monopole Gout American 1907 is the world’s most expensive champagne. This is the famous “shipwreck champagne” and it has a truly extraordinary story to tell, much more interesting than simply the prices it has achieved.
The first description Ken Gargett ever heard of the durian fruit was that it was like “eating custard over an open sewer”. He never forgot that . . . but it made him curious. He he reveals why despite its obnoxious odor, durian is considered by many as ‘The King of Fruits.’
In Ken Gargett’s opinion, El Dorado rums from Guyana are superb, and compared to what one might find at similar prices for whiskies and cognacs, they remain incredible bargains.
While the Appleton Estate distillery in Jamacia has a reputation of the highest order for quality rums, for Ken Gargett, the sweet spot has long been their 21-Year-Old.
For champagne lovers, Ken Gargett recommends taking a look at the Lallier range. You might not be getting in right on the ground floor, but awfully close. And you’ll never regret it.
In Ken Gargett’s opinion, Billecart-Salmon’s Cuvee Nicolas François is a great champagne, whatever the vintage, but from 2008, it is transcendent. The champagne is of a gleaming appearance, like cut crystal. One sniff and it is obvious we are dealing with something that is wonderfully complex, elegant, still fresh and impeccably balanced.
Like a proper gentleman, Hollywood legend Clark Gable paired wristwatches to go with his outfits both on and off screen. Gable had a gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Reference 6011 and also wore a Patek Philippe Reference 1526 Perpetual Calendar, prominently seen in ‘Soldier of Fortune’ as Nick Gould highlights here.
Having relocated to Deeside, Scotland, Colin Alexander Smith fulfilled a lifelong ambition of fly fishing on local rivers and fisheries. For some insights into fly fishing in Scotland, he talked to Alastair Peake who, with his twin brother Will, runs the aptly named Twin Peakes Fly Fishing.