Blog — Page 90 of 281

Water of Life – Seppeltsfield Road Distillers

With gin distilling having exploded in both demand and offerings and no end in sight when it comes to mushrooming, methinks we are nearing two hundred gin distilleries on terra australis.

It is always nice to come across a new one that adds new nuances when it comes to channelling their alchemy in the creation of bright, fresh, exciting, and delicious craft gins. – made with forbearance, assiduity, and the highest quality additives.

Incepted by the Durdins, i.e. a juniper-berry juice loving couple, and named after the picturesque, palm-lined stretch of road in the Barossa valley, Seppeltsfield Road Distillers have firmly established themselves on the firmament of premium gin crafters.

Merely two years after the release of its first emissions, Seppeltsfield Road Distillers are drowning in accolades and awards – both on national and international stages, so it was high time if their gins live up to the hype.

Now, for the uninitiated The Barossa Valley is one of the most renowned wine-producing regions in the Southern part of Australia, with shiraz being their pre-eminent grape variety.  Needless to say, I was intrigued about what Seppeltsfield Road Distiller’s Shiraz gin was going to be like.

In a bid to create nuances of soft tannins resting on a backbone of complex and rich shiraz fruit flavours, macerated shiraz grapes are infused with hints of juniper, cinnamon and orange along with botanicals like starflower and lemon-limey cilantro.

Having tried and road-tested the Seppeltsfield Barossa Gin both in a Negroni, G & T and neat, I must say that it is an excellent sipper and dangerously more-ish.

I harbour a weak spot for distilleries that are committed to provenance and the way Seppeltsfield Road Distillers are distilling grape spirits and enhance them with idiosyncratic locally sourced botanicals is an example par excellence for not merely swimming fairway in the waves of the gin craze but take things to the next level not only with their gins but also their gear, with their still having been custom-made for their operations.

I cannot wait to visit and sample their Barossa Brandy.

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image from company website

Gallery Lévy Gorvy

Gerhard Richter and Roy Lichtenstein

Being a stalwart in the realm of both contemporary as well as post-war art, Lévy Gorvy is one of the galleries that has been on my radar for the longest time. I never got to visit one of their galleries while holding court in NYC, Paris, Mailand and Hong Kong and as the pandemic will not allow for a firsthand visit in the foreseeable future,  it is high time for me to shed light on what has been created by Dominique Lévy and Brett Gorvy.

Founded in 2012, the gallery not only represent a diverse array of high calibre contemporary artists but has with its exquisitely curated exhibitions and multidisciplinary events established itself on the forefront of cutting-edge tastemakers in the art world. Needless to say, when I last visited the new Monocle HQ in Zürich, Lévy Gorvy was one of the topics that was touched on as they offer bespoke private advisory services to collectors and institutions with their local office.

For the yet to be initiated, mentioning that Lévy Gorvy’s area of expertise in the secondary market included luminaries such as Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol, should give an indication of the league they are have been playing in for close to a decade now.

With a diverse and immensely qualified team, Lévy Gorvy offers their services in areas going far beyond selling and exhibiting art, one of them being the art historical research and original scholarship, which informs the publishing of their exhibition catalogues, monographs, and other publications.

I have been an avid follower of Gerhard Richter’s oeuvre – be it sculpting, photography or painting, and have witnessed incarnations of his art and met the man in person, however, Lévy Gorvy’s publication on selected paintings from the artist’s original nineteen Colour Charts, i.e. Farbtafeln,  produced in 1966, exceeded expectations. Expertly tracing Richter’s experimentation with a variety of non-compositional styles ranging from pop art via the emulation of colours based on the Ducolux sample card, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue is an example par excellence for how he toys with and questions conventions of abstraction and socio-economic implications.

I doubt that anyone remotely into art has not been exposed to the cost-effective dot printing technique that publisher Benjamin Day has pioneered, which has served as an immense source of inspiration and stimulus for the triumvirate of artists that are Sigmar Polke, Roy Lichtenstein and Gerald Laing. Given these circumstances, it should not come as a surprise that the name Source and Stimulus was chosen for an exhibition of the trio devoted to the “Ben-Day dot”.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition, the catalogue showcases the common denominator of the three artists, i.e. living and the moment and themes that were prevalent in the 1960s. The opulently illustrated catalogue not only focuses on the exhibition but is framed by expert essays and substantiated with detailed chronologies of each artist’s career.

Go check it out for yourself.

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images from gallery website

High Adventures in the Great Outdoors – Footwear

We covered how much boots and specifically Dr. Martens coined underground couture in the 1970s and throughout the 1980s. However, with the advent of hardcore and straight edge, punk got a long needed overhaul – down to below the heel.

While the youth crew movement limited itself to brands that made a commitment to animal free products like New Balance and an all-out athletic look with non-leather Air Jordans, other started wearing skate shoes or Chuck Taylors.

Minor Threat and the Dischord family always had a faible for breaking away from punk’s strict style codes and started wearing boat and tennis shoes in the sole department, a style of shoes that since the early 1980s has come a long way.

An example par excellence for a classic tennis shoe is the model that Davis Cup winner Adrian Quist created in 1939: Based on an idiosyncratic herringbone grip on a soft rubber sole, what was to become the immensely influential Volley shoe was born and has graced not only tennis courts ever since.

With a commitment to ethically sourced apparel and footwear, Volley has created its own lane and accomplished the art of maintaining the DNA of their brand yet incorporate subtle adjustments in a bid to create a stylish, contemporary portfolio of comfortable shoes.

What I like about Volley’s range is that they can be effortlessly and seamlessly combined with any wardrobe, be it formal or informal. Remastering e.g. models like their 1982 Volley High Leap in form of the Heritage model, pays homage to the styles of the 1980s while incorporating nuances that are at times reminiscent of contemporary sneakers like Yeezys while staying in classy territory.

Over the last couple of years, Volley has branched into creating more sturdy boots, like their Overgrip Leather as part of their premium Black Label capsule, which has been designed for rocky and concrete terrain.

Again, the DNA of Volley, i.e. the iconic herringbone outsole and rounded rubber toe cap are still there yet the boot is enhanced by Napa leather, a DAMPENERTECH10 shock absorbing footbed and a reinforced webbing heel tab, the sum of which not make it a boot with an edge but one of the most easy to wear and comfortable set of kicks.

Volley’s new "Ours" unisex apparel capsule is yet to bear fruits in differently styled garments, but if their first emission is anything to go by, they are on the right track. Right in time for the local Mardi Gras celebrations their relaxed fit 100% cotton loop back French Terry shirt with the trademark rainbow coloured blind heat embossed Volley logo, does not only feel great but serves as eye candy was well.

Cannot wait to see Volley explore venture further into creating different styles while with their quality approach. 

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images from company website

High Adventures in the Great Outdoors

Rock and Roll and Sunglasses, Pared Eyewear

Putting on a set of sunglasses can transform your whole look or as good ole Mulholland Man put it ever so eloquently, “when I put my sunglasses on, I am Jack Nicholson, without them, I am fat and sixty.”

If you think about it, glasses have a long history within the confines of music, specifically rock’n roll. Buddy Holly’s trademark thick framed glasses were so iconic that German punk band Die Ärzte dedicated a song not to the man but the frames.

Roy Orbison is another godfather of rock and roll who singlehandedly made Ray Ban Wayfarers effortlessly cool and made them part of his trademark look.

Then there is the cock rock / hair metal era, where some of the main protagonists might not even have gotten recognized if it not have been for the shades that have become part of their costume – think memorable figures like Slash and the rest of Guns ‘n’ Roses.

The swingin’ sixties had its own trademark glasses and the etymology of the phrase “viewing the world through rose coloured glasses” might be traced back to Janis Joplin and John Lennon, the latter of which suffered from poor vision so it might have been less of an aesthetic choice.

Then there’s icon like Elvis Presley who had a distinctive appearance throughout all ups and down of their career yet still coined their own glasses genre simple by association.

I like different kinds of sunglasses and would like to think that there’s ones for every occasion. An interesting entity I have come across is Pared Eyewear, which is quite a telling name as their credo is not only to refine and put focus on subtlety but a play on “pair” as they are all about collaborations with other Australian designers, be it withing the confines of glasses  and fashion or areas as diverse as music, jewellery and art.

Pared releases two collections , which are highly anticipated down under as their trademark style based on clean lines with signature details has established itself on the firmament of connoisseurs.

Now, travelling a lot when pandemics permit, I have owned a large variety of glasses, bought on different continents and no matter how much I love some of them, most eventually broke as they looked cool but were essentially of the flimsy kind. Needless to say, I have come to appreciate a brad where the eyewear components are chosen with a long life span in mind.

Enter Pared Eyewear, which was recommend to me by a lady friend as she loves their creations so much that she has taken to have their sunglasses frames scripted for her optical lenses.

What I like about Pared’s frames is that they are handmade and use high quality 6mm acetates, sourced from long established suppliers. The advantages of using acetates are obvious as they are not only lightweight, hypo allergenic and flexible but also allow to be infused with vibrant pigments to enhance their looks.

Given that the lenses are both solid, gradient, shatterproof and scratch-resistant and  deliver in sun protection department with both UVA and UVB protection as it is much needed on terra australis, I have started to wear them for long runs and find them more comfortable and much cooler looking than “sporty” ones.

The fact that Pared’s unisex range offer a glamourous edge that most cookie-cutter formula frames lack, adds a dimension of fun, which can be  become a tad annoying when your partner starts enjoying your pairs more than her own.

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image provided

High Adventures in the Great Outdoors

Swiss Wave and Calida

Gottfried Keller, precision watch manufacturing, the Alps, Max Frisch, fondue, versatile wee red knives, solid milk chocolate, more than seven thousand lakes, Jean-Jacques-Rousseau, multi-culturalism, Roger Federer and Gruyère cheese – stereotypes and clichés aside, I have always found it difficult to not like Switzerland.

Musically, I have always harboured a fondness for Swiss bands like Yello, Kleenex Nasal Boys and TNT, and my first excursion to Switzerland culminated in a stay at the Off the Disk Records HQ where my horizons were expanded to appreciate genre-coining pioneering outfits like Fear of God and Celtic Frost.

Fashion-wise, Switzerland has always been an insider tip for aficionados of sporty and contemporary couture, which should not come as a surprise given its location next to France and Italy. The fact that the fair trade industry is well entrenched in Switzerland only contributes to the appeal and adds another facet to a distinguishable, distinct identity that Switzerland embodies the fashion world.

For the last seventy-five years, Swiss brand Calida has been a champion of sustainability, long-lasting quality and contemporary design when it comes to lounger and undergarments. While their craftmanship and attention to detail has created a league of itself, I have developed an appreciation for Calida over the last couple of years because of their use of innovative materials, commitment to sustainability and their belief in the importance of transparency.

Case in point, Calida was the first underwear brand that championed Made in Green by Oeko-Tex, which ensures that the labelled products are devoid of harmful substances, adhere to safe and socially responsible production principles, which do not harm the environment.

Calida’s 100% Nature collection pushed the envelope even further by producing the first completely compostable products made exclusively from cellulose material, which are not only being manufactured in a closed, energy-efficient cycle and sourced from sustainably managed forests but are being produced using locally sourced carbon-neutral biogas. 

In other words, if you want to discard your Calida gear, you can just put it on your garden compost, where it will decompose into biological nutrients to essentially create new raw materials.

A favourite of Calida’s offerings includes the Spacer Lounge sweater, which I love wearing on long-distance travel given its HeiQ Fresh technology, which ensures breathability and odour control.

The fact that almost every item of Calida’s collections can be combined which each other, make it not only a dream for people who love getting dressed in the dark but creates an overarching cohesion and provides coordination possibilities that other brands lack.

Given the longevity of Calida’s gear, the commitment to sustainability and the aesthetically pleasing designs, it is commendable brand that justifies the investment as one easily see and feel what you pay for.