In this issue:
- Dan Keeling profiles the Alpine terroirs of the Savoie and Switzerland’s Valais. “Traversing the winding roads around some spectacular mountainside vineyards both [in Switzerland], and in nearby Savoie days earlier,” recalls Keeling, “proved to us indisputably that Alpine masters … mean business.”
- Keira Knightley reviews an eclectic selection of wines, from Envínate’s 2021 ‘Doad’ Lousas (“It would be impossible to find a person who wouldn’t like this wine”) to Blossom Hill (“If this is the taste of summer, we are all fucked”).
- Marina O’Loughlin interviews British national treasure and comedy polymath Bill Bailey over lunch at Noble Rot Mayfair–and reviews Narbonne’s Les Grands Buffets, an amazing ‘all you can eat’ restaurant featuring, among many other wonders, “towers of lobsters”, “acres of oysters” and “foie gras in ten different iterations”.
- Kate Spicer explores ‘Drunken Monkey Theory’ – AKA the reason why loving wine is in our DNA – and profiles François Chartier, the Atomic Somm who uses molecular science to improve wine and food pairing.
Also in this issue:
+ Joe Beef’s David McMillan recounts his greatest meal
+ Jay McInerney recounts the tempestuous story of the Mondavi dynasty
+ Levi Dalton considers when is the right time to drink Barolo
Plus features from Jon Bonné on Bernard Ginestet, Alice Feiring on coastal Tuscany and stories about Dolcetto, Succession and wine cancel culture, among others.