Business is Booming for wine trader Bordeaux Index December 9, 2014 Bottle.opener@cityam.com While we’re toiling away at screens and desks day-dreaming about the Grand Cru we might open with friends on Saturday, Gary Boom lives that dream every day. He’s the former City broker who had a brainwave about the wine business after making his first fortune, and has turned it into Bordeaux Index, one of [...]
Desert Island wines with Bordeaux Index founder Gary Boom December 9, 2014 While we’re toiling away at screens and desks, day-dreaming about the Grand Cru we might open with friends on Saturday, Gary Boom is doing just that. He’s the former City broker who had a brainwave about the wine business after making his first fortune, and has turned it into Bordeaux Index, one of Britain’s largest [...]
Car review: The BMW 3 Series plug-in hybrid prototype proves the family saloon has an electric future December 8, 2014 BMW applies its supercar hybrid drive technology to its best-selling family car with impressive results Don’t be put off by the garish exterior – this BMW 3 Series means business. That’s because the world’s best-selling executive family four-door saloon will soon combine BMW’s i8 supercar electric drive technology with the sort of everyday usability that’ll [...]
Not convinced? December 8, 2014 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… BMW 325D SE PRICE: £30,575 0-62MPH: 6.8 secs TOP SPEED: 152mph CO2 G/KM: 129g/km MPG COMBINED: 57.6mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Three Stars PERFORMANCE Three Stars PRACTICALITY Four Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Three Stars INFINITI Q50 HYBRID PRICE: £39,995 0-62MPH: 5.1 secs TOP SPEED: 155mph CO2 G/KM: 144g/km MPG COMBINED: 45.6mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Two Stars [...]
Pod only knows: Great storytelling podcasts, from Sarah Koenig’s Serial to Jonathan Goldstein’s WireTap December 8, 2014 Fearing the end of Serial? Don’t worry, there are plenty other great storytelling podcasts out there Thanks to Sarah Koenig, podcasts are cool again. Her unearthing of a fifteen year old murder case involving three teenagers, a mobile phone and a host of hazy details has proved an unlikely talking point for people all over [...]
The Royal Palm in Mauritius: The best resort hotel in the Indian Ocean is back with a bang December 7, 2014 The Royal Palm, haunt of former French presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, has just undergone a £10m refurbishment. It was already the best hotel in Mauritius and, in the words of Spinal Tap, it has just turned it up to eleven, upgrading to become the only six star hotel in Mauritius. The Royal Palm [...]
48 hours in… Bruges December 7, 2014 WHERE TO STAY B&B De Corenbloem is the ultimate in olde-worlde European luxury. Rooms start from €150 per night. Visit decorenbloem.be WHERE TO EAT Den Huzaar is a traditional bistro that does Belgian classics and does them well. Visit denhuzaar.be or call 032 050 33 37 97 WHERE TO DRINK In Belgium it has to [...]
Art review: Tony Bevan: Trees and Archives at Ben Brown Fine Arts December 5, 2014 Ben Brown Fine Arts | ★★★★★ Yorkshire-born painter Tony Bevan, 63, is renowned for bloodshot portraits mapped with veins that contort, twist and strain toward the subconscious. His latest exhibition (a show of 15 new paintings of trees and archive grids) is a departure in terms of subject matter but not in terms of theme. [...]
Black Sea film review: Jude Law’s absurdly overcooked accent isn’t the worst thing in this submarine borefest December 5, 2014 Cert 15 | ★☆☆☆☆ Maybe three miles under the sea, locked in a rusty tube with a dozen sweaty blokes, is the only place Jude Law can be trusted not to get anyone pregnant. That’s the only reason I can think of for why he agreed to this sub-Guy Richie, substandard, submarine borefest. It’s [...]
Theatre review: 3 Winters December 5, 2014 Lyttelton Theatre | ★★★★☆ In Britain, it can be difficult to understand the seismic societal shifts that characterised much of modern European history. From 1945 to 2011, Croatia moved through monarchy and communism to capitalism, on the way fragmenting from Yugoslavia in a brutal succession of wars. London-based Croatian playwright Tena Stivcic’s new play follows a [...]