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difficult to beat. The only problem was the last night, which was really rough. We had a problem with the keel hydraulics, and had to sail with the keel fixed and centred, which slowed us down. Under the circumstances we could not have hoped for a better result.” Next was the Miami to New York record (947 nautical miles), and John Elkann joined the yacht for the record attempt. After enduring numerous tropical storms alternating with windless zones, Soldini declined to request ratification of the elapsed time, even though there is no recorded reference for monohulls on this route. “Our achievement turned out to be below our expectations,” said Soldini, “and it did not reflect the performance of a boat as fast as Maserati. When we set sail for the record attempt we knew that the weather conditions were not ideal, but we didn’t expect them to be so completely adverse!” Once again, it was weather that defeated Maserati on the New York to The Lizard (UK) record challenge. They were chasing the time set by Robert Miller’s Mari Cha IV, a 42m schooner, of 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds in 2003. Mari Cha IV covered the 2,925 miles of the route at an average speed of 18.5 knots.“ Unfortunately, Maserati ended up in a dead calm zone caused by a high-pressure system
parked in precisely the wrong place. “It’s a pity, said Soldini. “It was a great opportunity missed in an instant, but as usual we were in the sea’s hands, and we couldn’t command it. I am sorry because we only missed the record by 30 miles!” Giovanni Soldini and Maserati did however set a new record for the Golden Route – New York to San Francisco - in a time of 47 days, 0 hours, 42 minutes and 29 seconds. Best time for the 13,225 nautical miles Clipper route via Cape Horn was previously set in 1998 by Yves Parlier onboard Aquitaine Innovations (57 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes). And before that the record belonged to Flying Cloud, an exceptional vessel that reached San Francisco in 89 days and 8 hours in 1854, creating a record that stood for more than 130 years. “We are so happy with this record”, says Soldini. “The Golden Route is an historic record, a very important and challenging one. Now it will bear the colours of the Italian flag. Maserati proved to be a powerful, fast and reliable boat. The crew has been extraordinary, everyone was prepared to face even the hardest situation, and I want to thank all my companions in this adventure and all my partners: Maserati, BSI, Generali and Ermenegildo Zegna, who have allowed all of us to make a dream come true”.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Giovanni Soldini at the helm; Maserati Quattroporte LEFT: Maserati sailing in Victoria Harbour
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ROLEX FEATURE
MASTER OF THE SEA PHOTO BY: ROLEX / CARLO BORLENGHI
Skippers are able to trust the pioneering mechanical countdown of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II as they cross the start line.
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olex introduced a new version of the Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II this year. The revolutionary regatta chronograph was launched in 2007 and is available now for the first time in 904L steel, fitted with a blue ceramic Cerachrom bezel, key to the unique start-countdown mechanism. The high-performance timekeeping instrument is designed for professional skippers as well as yachting enthusiasts. The new Yacht-Master is a pure example of Rolex expertise in precision, function and reliability. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht Master II is the marriage of state of the art technology and time-honoured tradition like regatta yachts themselves. Skippers are able to trust the pioneering mechanical countdown of the
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II as they close on the start line. Rolex is proud to be a major force behind yachting’s finest events, and support challenges like the Sydney Hobart Race and the China Sea Race, or the intenselycompetitive Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in the Mediterranean, and the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, held this year in Newport, the home of the prestigious New York Yacht Club. In all, Rolex are title sponsors of 15 major international events and off the water support the ISAF and the annual ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. Rolex’s affinity for sports goes back to its founder, Hans Wilsdorf, in London. Wristwatches had hitherto been fragile jewellery: he was determined to create a wristwatch that would be
OPPOSITE PAGE AND ABOVE: Racing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup held in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy
ROLEX FEATURE
reliable and robust as well as precise, and adapted to the increasingly active lifestyles of the early 20th Century. The first Rolex Oyster was worn by the first Englishwoman to swim the English Channel in 1927, and since then Rolex have used the world of adventure as a proving-ground for the Oyster. They have been associated with the elite world of sailing for more than 50 years.
FARR 40 - PHOTO BY: ROLEX / DANIEL FORSTER
THE MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is a gathering of the finest sailors and the most competitive ‘Big Boats’ on the racing circuit. Owners come together in Porto Cervo, Sardinia for the pinnacle of the maxi yacht racing calendar. Hosted at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, this is the pre-eminent regatta for the world’s most competitive racing fleet. September 2013 saw 37 yachts divided into 6 classes including the beautiful J-Class yachts. Racing took the competitors over many challenging courses during the week-long event but it was Niklas Zennström, (the developer of Skype) owner of Ran 2 who came from behind to deny Andres Soriano and Alegre the ultimate prize in the Rolex Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship.
THE ROLEX FARR 40s The Farr 40 was designed as a single-class racer and the Rolex Farr 40s World Championship has captivated the sailing community since its inception in 1998. It is the most closely-fought one-design event in the world. The rules are simple: the boat must be helmed by its amateur owner, and no more than half the crew can be professionals. All the smart owners make sure that a worldclass tactician is amongst the number. All races count: no discards allowed. This year the fleet headed to Newport, Rhode Island, spiritual capital of American yachting and 15 boats raced 10 windward/leeward courses over four gruelling days. The eventual winner out of the 15 entries from eight countries was the all-Italian crew on Enfant Terrible. Despite an appalling 10th-place finish in the final race, which left them even on points with Kevin McNeil’s Nightshift, Enfant Terrible won on count-back, with three bullets to Nightshift’s one. Conditions varied with light wind, no wind, strong breeze, rain, fog and even sunshine, and the overall lead changed hands after every race, but while it could have gone to any of the leading three boats, no-one resented the Italians taking the Rolex Farr 40s crown.
OPPOSITE PAGE: The YACHT-MASTER II’s 44 mm OYSTER case, guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet), is a paragon of robustness ABOVE: The Rolex Farr 40s World Championships held in Newport
NATURE Regatta Royal Langkawi International Regatta Country Malaysia Founded 2002 Yacht Club Royal Langkawi Yacht Club WINNER 2013 Racing Neil Pryde/Hi Fi IRC 1 Niels Degenkolw/Phoenix Sportsboats Mohd. Masyuri A Rahmat/ ATM Sportsboats under 25 Mohd. Faizal iz Norizan/ MYA/KFC Multihull Racing Peter Wilcox/Mojo Multihull Premier Malcolm Hone/Prima Donna Club Fuda Yasuto/Fortissimo 8
ROYAL LANGKAWI INTERNATIONAL REGATTA Back to Nature Langkawi is the Jewel of Kedah, the scene of mythological battles between giants, home of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, and a duty-free island into the bargain. And right at the beginning of the year, as racing yachts head south from Phuket, the venue for the Royal Langkawi International Regatta. In 2007 Langkawi was named a UNESCO Geopark. The island’s oldest geological formation was the first part of south east Asia to rise from the seabed in the Cambrian era, more than half a billion years ago. In the middle of the archipelago lies Bass Harbour, a stretch of water just made for racing, and in the south west of the group a huge number of islands, islets, and narrow passages wait to be raced around and through, while the sea eagles soar from the vertiginous cliffs overhead and watch the goings-on below. The regatta takes place in and around karst, marble and other limestone outcroppings, festooned with jungle, that are aptly termed ‘geoforest’. It provides a backdrop to the
racing that is second to none, where the racing tacticians have to stay on their toes in order to take account of the tidal currents among the islands. Everywhere, thick forest drips all the way down to water level, and every tiny white sand bay is somewhere you’d want to stop and anchor if it wasn’t for the fact that the racing is so good. Back in Bass Harbour, it is but a tack and a fetch back to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and Charlie’s Place, one of the best bars in Asia from which to watch the sun go down. In common with all the other regattas in our Best of the Best list, RLIR’s race management is first-class. There’s no point in putting-on splendid races in fabulous places if the race officers don’t know their stuff. RLIR’s people emphatically do. Sailors with some extra time available will find Langkawi to be just as good for back-to-nature cruising as it is for racing. After recovering from the huge and gracious hospitality at the RLIR, slip away down to the Pulau Duyang and the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, or northeast to Pulau Langgun and the Kilim River. Relax. The racing is over. Explore Langkawi.
Ocean Rover Eveline White Sail Chantique
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finish of the series. Most important was the change in style of the competing boats, and while it was not the first time that multihulls have appeared in Cup races, it was the first time that they had been designed within the same parameters. It was also a major leap in technology; this event has always been driven by technological development, but never before by such huge amounts. One of the Kiwis’ major scores was in the formation of its design team. It acquired the services of Pete Melvin, one of the small team that had defined the rule for the AC72 class. In no small way, Melvin’s presence in the team was a major step in the right direction ahead of the other teams. The Oracle design team was no less impressive and was led by Dirk Kramers. It was to continue its efforts, after the major setback of the capsize of the first boat a year ahead of the Cup, right through the Match, and it was here that its persistence prevailed. It oversaw the constant alteration to the foils that eventually gave the Defender a speed edge, and it is a regular feature of the America’s Cup that the faster boat wins, even if, as in this case, the superiority was only apparent when required. While the Challenger Selection series, the Louis Vuitton Cup, had been so one-sided, often amounting to nothing more that a one-boat parade around the course that gave the naysayers fuel to deny a proper competition for the Cup before it started, the Cup races were spellbinding. It had seemed that Emirates Team New Zealand had everything going its way, winning almost at will to
reach match point at 8-1, until the massive revival by Oracle Team USA and the comeback that beat everything that had gone before. Early in the Cup match, Dean Barker and his crew on Emirates Team New Zealand were noticeably faster upwind, and by the end of the tenth day led by eight races to one. The team was on match point - just one further victory required and the Cup was headed for Auckland. Then came a win for Oracle when the two boats lined up for the thirteenth race, thirteen days after the match had begun - unlucky numbers for the Kiwis. In Race 13, Oracle led around the first mark by ten seconds. ETNZ appeared slow on account of carrying a furled Code 0 headsail, but quickly unrolled it and chased OTUSA in the 7-8kt breeze. The American team was quickly passed, and ETNZ led by 1m 42s at the leeward gate. The gap between them grew, so that at the windward gate ETNZ was a huge 2m 27s in front, but there were doubts as to whether the Kiwis could finish the race within the 40-minute time limit. Despite sailing at 20 knots, the time limit expired with ETNZ three minutes from the finish and more than a mile ahead. The race was immediately re-sailed and this time ETNZ led away to the first mark, but down the run the Kiwis were penalised for a port/starboard infraction and forced to slow down to take a penalty. The gap between them was 20s at the turn, and upwind the newfound speed of OTUSA became apparent as she stretched to a 46s lead at the windward gate. From this moment OTUSA
OPPOSITE PAGE: Match racing in San Francisco Bay ABOVE: Emirates Team New Zealand on a flyer
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helmsman, Spithill. That changed the manner in which the boat was sailed, and mistakes were minimised. The Defender continued to modify its boat every time it came ashore. Not with, as many New Zealanders suspected, a special (and possibly illegal) device, but modifications to the existing foils, notably the rudders. There was no Boeing ‘Stability Augmentation System’, no ‘Little Herbie’ and nothing was computer-controlled. The shore crew had, however, perfected a ratchet-controlled system of inclining the main foils to further improve the boat’s longitudinal stability. The T-foils of the Oracle team boat’s rudders were discovered to be producing cavitation at speed. Cavitation means drag, and drag means ‘brakes’, which in turn lessened the lift of the foils. It was cured with a fillet between the foil and the vertical rudder, and a streamlining of the entry to the rudder with a small bulb. Many of these alterations took place on the day when there was no racing, 16 September, following the major change in the two-day break three days earlier. Alterations were made to the rake of the rig - better balance came from raking the mast further aft and straightening the leech in the lower part of the wing - and to the wing’s set up in order to improve the performance to windward. Because the bias of the course gave a greater amount of port tack sailing on the wind, the
boat was tuned for better performance on this tack. Small things but they all added up. As a result, even on the few occasions that ETNZ won the start - including the final race - Oracle Team USA had the greater speed potential. From the nadir of 1-8 down, OTUSA didn’t put a foot wrong. Admittedly Spithill lost the start of the nineteenth and final race to Barker in 18 knots of wind and trailed into the leeward mark, but the Defender’s improved upwind speed soon saw the two boats almost level, and when the Kiwis tacked ahead and to leeward to preserve the starboard tack advantage on the right hand side of the course, Spithill bore off and began foiling to pass the Kiwis. That was the turning point in the race that would give the America’s Cup to the Oracle Team USA. After the race, Spithill admitted that much of his oftrepeated mantra - ‘we can win this thing’ - was simply psychological warfare, uttered to affect the opposition. The shore team had not changed the foils very much after the major work that took place in the two-day break of 12-14 September. From that point Oracle Team USA lost only two races while building a winning score. The America’s Cup always goes to the faster boat. AC34 was no exception and the world waits in anticipation for AC35, eager to know where, in what, and when. It cannot come too soon.
CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE TOP LEFT: Victorious Oracle Team USA; America in the lead; Winners of the cup; distraught and defeated Grant Daulton and Dean Barker; the home crowd; Larry Ellison
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his beautiful 60m motoryacht will be visiting Asia during the winter of 2013/2014. With her exterior and interior styling from Andrew Winch Designs, Cloud 9 offers over 500m² of living space with impressive headroom laid out over five luxurious decks that are filled with natural light and styled to a contemporary, nautical design. There a wealth of facilities for outdoor living, including the superb 65m² sundeck with a jacuzzi, sun pads, a wet bar, a barbecue and a shaded dining area. Elegant and well-conceived accommodation is provided for up to 14 guests in seven cabins. The vast, open-plan owner’s suite with its forward observation lounge lies on the main deck forward while an impressive VIP suite is located on the port side of the bridge deck and incorporates a private terrace. Four double guest cabins (2 of which convert to twins) lie off a central atrium on the lower deck. A gymnasium on the bridge deck is designed to convert to a twin cabin with two pullman berths and ensuite bathroom if required. Cloud 9 is available for charter this winter 2013/14 from Burgess Yachts who are the agents.
EQUIPMENT AND WATERSPORTS 1 x 7m Novurania Chase tender with 220hp engine, 1 x 6.7m Sport Nautique 200 custom ski and wakeboard boat, 1 x Castoldi jet tender, 2 x Seadoo jet skis, 2 x SeaBobs, 4 x rigid paddle boards, 1 x 20m long/10m high Freestyle Cruiser Water Slide, 2 x inflatable kayaks (2-man), snorkelling gear, waterskis and wakeboards COMMUNICATION & ENTERTAINMENT State-of-the-art audio-visual systems, satellite television, iPod docking stations, Wii connected to cinema screen and BluRay player on cinema screen for HD movies. Satcom & cellular communication facilities, Fleet 77, VOIP, Wi-Fi internet access,.
OPPOSITE PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A dining room with a view; al fresco dining; relaxation zone; Sunlounging in style; master suite ABOVE: M/Y Cloud 9 underway
SPECIAL FEATURES Cinema, RYA accredited training centre. Jacuzzi, and Gymnasium. Available for Charter from Burgess as Worldwide Central Agents Charter Cloud 9 from EUR343,000 per week www.burgessyachts.com
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PERSHING 62’ Sporty, Elegant and Refined A n aggressive and streamlined profile, large internal spaces and a highly-refined decor are the strengths of this latest Pershing model, displayed at Cannes. The Pershing 62’ catches the eye immediately due to its sleek profile and typical Pershing glazing that nevertheless gives this model a family feel, and adds extra light to the full-beam Owner’s suite amidships. The VIP cabin at the bow also benefits from this innovation since it has a double window with a porthole which allows more light to enter this space. Built initially either with three cabins, all en-suite, or with two cabins and a sitting-room. The stern includes a practical launching and storage system for the tender using a winch to lower it into water. The cockpit has a large central sundeck with a large sunbed with a removable back and an L-shaped sofa. The main saloon can be reached from the cockpit through a sliding door. This combines the cockpit with the saloon, creating a wide open space for guests. The entire environment exploits natural lighting, thanks to the wide lateral windows with original and rounded geometrical shapes. The Pershing 62’ is available with two engine versions: twin MTU 10V 2000 M84s with 1381 mhp, or twin 10V 2000 M93s
Intense performance and refined aesthetic choices for a sporty and elegant yacht.
with 1524 mhp. With the larger option, the Pershing 62’ reaches a top speed of 46.5 knots and a cruising speed of 42. The boat is equipped with Searex surface propellers and it is possible to install an Autotrim system. Probably a good idea at those speeds. www.pershing-yacht.com
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FAIRLINE 50 Compact yet Airy C ompact in shape, the designers have used huge panoramic windows to create an airy saloon. By dint of placing the galley aft, in the heart of the action, the crew can deliver the perfect al fresco social environment, or equally-well service the internal sitting room. The spacious master-cabin feels like it is in a bigger boat, and glazed panels let into the ceiling provide light in addition to the light from the panorama windows. Two further twin cabins, also with en-suite bathrooms, sit aft, and an optional fourth cabin can be accessed from the cockpit. Engine options up to twin 710 mHP Caterpillars will deliver 31 knots which for a 51-footer with a 14 foot beam isn’t bad. The tender launch system and the lazarette can accommodate a 3-seater Williams 285 Turbo Jet Rib. The cockpit sits beneath the extended flybridge, accessible by deep-bottomed steps on the port side. Behind the upper helm station is a 5-seater dining table with further seating and a sunbed area - this is the social centre of the boat. The rear of the flybridge is an instrument gantry, keeping the electronics out of harm’s way.
The Fairline Squadron 50’s claim to fame is the innovative design that has created beautiful rooms, not mere cabins.
The cockpit has two transom gates up from the stern swimming platform, flanking a fully-covered rear sofa, the perfect place to sit and sip as your boat slips home of an evening. www.jebsenmarine.com
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Shanghai Girl Built in Shanghai in 1911, Eveline is probably the oldest surviving sailing yacht built in Asia. TEXT BY SUZY RAYMENT AND GUY NOWELL PHOTOGRAPHY BY GUY NOWELL AND RICHARD CURTIS
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ased in Malaysia since the mid ‘50s Eveline is now owned by H.R.H. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Sultan of Selangor, (a keen yachtsman who has sailed around the world on his own yacht S/Y Jugra, and Royal Patron of the Royal Selanga Yacht Club), and Richard Curtis, a former Commodore of Malaysia’s Royal Selangor Yacht Club. Eveline is a familiar face in South East Asia, having being regularly cruised, chartered and raced in Malaysian, Thai and Singaporean waters. Her dark blue hull, spoon bow, counter stem stern and classic gaff rig make her distinctive.
OPPOSITE TOP: Evenline racing in the Royal Langkawi International Regatta
EARLY HISTORY IN SHANGHAI She was commissioned by Fitzroy Lloyd who was an officer in the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs and named Ethel L after Lloyd’s wife. He had her registered at Lloyds in 1911 “as a Cutter designed by John Alden, built by Kwang Fook Cheong with sails by Yew Chang covering an area of 1,400sqft“. Her builder was then a well-known local shipwright. John Alden, a well-known yacht designer from Boston in Massachusetts, left no record of his involvement in the design in his firm’s archives, which if verified would establish Eveline as his oldest surviving design. In his records however are drawings for a markedly similar yacht, so it is not something that can be ruled-out, and the Lloyd’s registration records lend considerable weight. Fitzroy appeared to have been active in the Shanghai Yacht Club for many years prior to his acquiring Eveline and to enjoy a lively social life. He was reported to have attended the 1907 Marine Engineers Fancy Dress Ball dressed as a Moonlighter and the 1911 Customs Club Fancy Dress Ball dressed as Sir Walter Raleigh! Fitzroy had owned and raced other boats including Atlantic III. He was immortalised in Limerick form in Social Shanghai: There once was a boat called Atlantic Whose skipper did things that were frantic He ran down a junk Cast her crew in a funk By his terrible sayings romantic His pranks didn’t long survive the birth of his daughter in 1912 at his bride’s mother’s house in Whangpoo Road, and reports of his social affairs and his racing exploits in Ethel L fade away.
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Sailing Spirit
Perfect for dockside drinks after a hard day’s sailing. Nic Boyde splices the mainbrace and announces ‘Spirits Up’ as he proposes ten terrific rum cocktails for the sailor home from the sea.
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s one of the oldest spirits in the world - there isn’t even a consensus on the origin of the name in English - it comes in innumerable guises and is the active constituent of hundreds of cocktails. One definition, with Ambrose Bierce’s tongue in his cheek: “Rum: a fiery liquor that produces madness in total abstainers.” The word ‘Rum’ has been used to describe distilled spirits generally, but nowadays means spirits made from sugar. Made everywhere in the world, it is usually distilled from fermented molasses, a by-product of sugar refining. Some rums, particularly the French Caribbean rums and the Brazilian Cachaça, are made directly from sugar-cane juice, but the process is the same. Add yeast, wait for the yeast to turn the sugar into alcohol, distill, mature, bottle. Most of the flavour and all the colour come from the maturation process. Dark rums are stored in ex-Bourbon charred-oak barrels. White rums are matured in stainless steel vats, and lighter-coloured rums in something in between. While cocktails were invented partly to make sometimes harsh spirits more palatable, today’s modern mixophile will want to use the finest rums around. We mention some of our favourites as we go along. Like many people introduced to sailing and the sea through books, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island made a great impression upon me. The Black Spot and the sea-shanty: “15 men on a dead manís chest, Yo ho ho! And a bottle of rum, Drink and the devil had done for the rest.” It never failed to thrill, even after countless re-readings; and linked rum and pirates in my mind ever after. A more recent verse, discovered on the internet, might make you laugh:
A Haiku on Kraken Rum, by “a pirate”: “The sea-beast’s spirit Held in the transparent flask Warms my pirate soul.” It wasn’t just pirates that liked their rum - the Royal Navy doled it out to every sailor, every day, right up to 1970, and there are many old folk songs that mark the place of rum in naval life. Here’s one of the cleaner ones: “It’s all for me grog, For me jolly, jolly grog, It’s all for me grog and tobacco. I’ve spent all me score, With the lassies on the shore, And it’s all for me grog and tobacco.” And when East Indiamen brought back spices and slang from Bengal, the melding of the toddy and the Indian spices and terminology gave the grateful world: Punch. Charles Dickens in David Copperfield describes a scene: “I informed Mr. Micawber that I relied upon him for a bowl of punch, and led him to the lemons. His recent despondency, not to say despair, was gone in a moment. I never saw a man so thoroughly enjoy himself amid the fragrance of lemon-peel and sugar, the odour of burning rum, and the steam of boiling water, as Mr. Micawber did that afternoon.” The traditional punch recipe was simple, and simply-expressed: “One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.” Famous modern rum drinkers include Teddy Roosevelt and his Roughriders, who named the Cuba Libre (Free Cuba!), the original Rum-and-Coke, a more suitable drink for the Caribbean than Dickens’ London Punch. Still in the Caribbean, Ernest Hemingway, arch-drinker and arch-writer, was moved to abandon his abrupt, staccato style when considering a certain kind of daiquiri: “This frozen daiquiri, so well beaten as it is, looks like the sea where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship when she is doing thirty knots. “
OPPOSITE PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Mt Gay Distillery; Edward Vernon; the rum ration; sugar cane; Mt Gay pot still; Old Grog ABOVE: Barbados rum shop
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MARKETING FEATURE
REACHING FOR THE SKY
Whether you take your inspiration from the stars in the heavens or the clouds in the sky, two of the world’s leading wine makers have just launched new wines that are sure to impress. Darren Barton reports from Hong Kong. CASTIGILION DEL BOSCO
THIS PAGE: The Castiglion del Bosco estate in Tuscany, Italy; and the winery
When Massimo Ferragamo saw the Castigilion del Bosco estate in Tuscany, Italy, in 2003, it was in a ruinous state, and it has been a labour of love for him to bring it back to its former glory. One of the founding members of the Brunello di Montalcino denomination, the 800-year-old estate is surrounded by rolling wooded hills, extensive vineyards and farmland dotted with ancient farmhouses. Castiglion del Bosco has two separate vineyards, the 20-hectare Gaugiolle vineyard and the 42-hectare Capanna, the estate’s premier wine producing region. Facing south west, and devoted to Sangiovese grapes, the vineyard is registered exclusively to Brunello production. Launching the Brunello Riserva Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2006 vintage in Hong Kong, Ferragamo reflected on the synergies between Italian and Chinese cultures, and the upcoming release of the limited edition magnum-bottled wines in November. The limited edition bottle features a specially
commissioned label of a rampant stallion against the Tuscan foothills to celebrate 2014’s Year of the Horse. The original image is an ink-on-rice-paper painting by renowned artist Tian Shuhan. Persistent rainfall from April to June 2006 saw considerable accumulation of water underground, which was useful during the summer heat of July, a warm August, and a sunny September, perfect growing conditions for the Sangiovese grape. The Brunello Riserva 2006 features a bright ruby red colour with deep garnet reflections, and a complex bouquet of ripe plum and cherry, opening to tertiary aromas with enveloping spice, balsamic and mineral notes. The quality of the grapes is reflected in the taste, with the soft and intense tannins well balanced with the acidic and alcoholic components, and highlights a wine that will allow a long ageing. The Brunello Riserva 2006 will be sold by charity auction on November 25, with all 888 specially-designed magnum bottles featuring Tian’s horse, with eight of the bottles being signed by both Ferragamo and the artist.
CLOUDY BAY At the other end of the world, Sarah Burton and her colleagues at Cloudy Bay in Malborough, New Zealand, have been quietly working on what they do best, producing amazing Sauvignon Blanc. “This year has been a great growing season,” she said, speaking exclusively to Yachtstyle at the launch. Cloudy Bay is rightly famous for its Sauvignon Blanc, and this year’s vintage clearly will enhance that reputation further. “This is the first time the Sauvignon Blanc has been completely dry. We deliberated for hours on the blend and think we have got it just about perfect,” said Burton. Tasting the wine, it is hard to disagree with her. Zesty lime and grapefruit aromas are the first to emerge from the nose of the Cloudy Bay 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, followed by nectarine and lemongrass tones. The palate is fresh and focused with ripe citrus, stone fruit, fennel and mineral notes lingering on a persistent finish. Of course, Sauvignon Blanc is not all that Cloudy Bay is renowned for. “Although we have been producing great Pinot Noir for a long time, it has only recently come to Asia” said Burton. “That might be
because of the volumes currently produced.” Burton finds that combining her passion for winemaking with her love of sailing is easy at Cloudy Bay. “We launch each vintage with a South Island to North Island race, with 15 boats, and it’s the first to get to Wellington with the wine that wins,” she said. On the America’s Cup, Burton commented: “It doesn’t seem to be a race any more, it’s just all about the technology. Team New Zealand were unlucky to lose out the way they did.” And on the prospects of Team New Zealand challenging again she is unsure, although she does agree it brings a buzz to the Viaduct Harbour in Auckland. Marlborough is a spectacular area to grow distinctive and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc and the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc defines Cloudy Bay Vineyards’ commitment to the variety. The 2013 harvest was among the most compact in history. The Sauvignon Blanc harvest itself lasted a short two weeks, an affair that usually spans one month. With the 2013 vintage, Cloudy Bay has proudly retained its place at the forefront of Sauvignon Blanc production.
THIS PAGE CLOCKWISE: The Cloudy Bay vineyards; wine maker Sarah Burton; entrance to Cloudy Bay Estate; Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir