My first experience of R.D. was on a very cold day in January 1992 at Great Peter Street; the ’73; a dribble was remaining in a bottle left in the first-floor dining room. Anthony Leschallas (the M.D) and a customer were out for lunch, and I was allowed to finish off the bottle. This was […]

That idea of “ beauty of fatigue and thrill of conquest ….” Giancarlo Brocci

On October 7th 2018 , Andrew Hawes , Justin Liddle and Alan Montague-Dennis travelled to Pisa with their vintage steel bicycles  to join our Italian agency Principals , Ciacci Piccolomoni D’Aragona to form “Team Ciacci” and participate in L’Eroica di Gaiole.

Last weekend from Friday 15th June thousands of lovers of vintage cycling, Great British life, fashion and wine flocked to Friden Grange in the Peak District for the fifth annual Eroica Britannia.

Dallaglio RugbyWorks’ epic cycling challenge takes on the French and Swiss Alps, Italian lakes and stunning scenery of Slovenia and Croatia where the 1,800km journey concluded in June 2018.

This is the final day of the Stage 1 of the Slam. I can’t believe I have survived this long, I must have burnt off thousands of calories and already achieved what I thought was going to be impossible. I am surrounded by incredible people; many have long since retired, made their fortunes, were a success in the business world, and left their halos behind.

A short climb takes us back into Spain and onto the next hill to take us over 2000 meters in altitude. Once we have taken in the sights at the top, a 35km descent will whisk us to the beautiful Spanish mountain town of Sort.

The decent is fast and scary. My hands are freezing and I struggle to lean into the corners as I zig-zag down the precarious mountain road. I am a slow descender, but I still manage to reach speeds of 68km – full concentration is required. No sooner had I reached the bottom, and the whole process of climbing and descending begins again as we attack the second Col D’Aspin.

Day 2 and we still hasn’t found a coffee shop. I was beginning to suffer from caffeine withdrawal! Will, was often at least an hour or two behind me, which gave me time to check in the hotel room and sort my kit out.

The first day of the 2016 Slam gently eased us into the event with a delightful ride that covered a few small Pyrenean foothills before taking a coastal ride into the beautiful seaside resort of Biarritz. It should have been beautiful if it wasn’t for the rain! My clean bike was about to get very dirty!

In 2010, while taking an inventory of the House cellars, an abundant wine cellar containing bottles and magnums of reserve wines was discovered. It was clear that these were very old. Hidden between a wall of empty bottles, this forgotten cellar had miraculously preserved small wooden panels used to identify the bottles. The team at Bollinger were able to use the inscriptions on the bottles to determine the origins and vintages of certain batches, for example an 1886 Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger, and an 1893 Verzenay, and even a 1914 Äy.