NETJETS EU VOLUME 9 2019

VOLUME 9
EDUCATION FIRST
Improving the world
one school at a time
PORTO NOW
Portugal’s second city is
thriving like never before
HORSE PLAY
Inside the world’s leading
equestrian circuit
TIME AND DATE
The artistry of perpetual
calendar watches
A CERTAIN STYLE
In conversation with
Dolce & Gabbana

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taking off
THE AMERICAN WEST
HAS ALWAYS HAD
AN UNMISTAKABLE DRAW.
A LAND OF BIG SKIES
AND TOPOGRAPHICAL
CONTRASTS,
ranging from prairies to peaks, it has been a cradle of
opportunities for everyone from pioneers and prospectors to
film producers and start-up potentates.
The West increasingly also draws visitors both to its
remotest corners and its well-trodden population centres. In
this, our autumn edition of NetJets, The Magazine – which
bears an aerial view of the ancient volcanic topology of Utah’s
Millard County on its cover – we provide an update on all the
happenings throughout the vast region. One special stop, on
page 74, is the unequivocally remote West Texas art hub of
Marfa, a must for any culture vulture.
Elsewhere in the art world, we report on how and where
virtual reality is being deployed to enliven our experience, be it
in world-class museums or niche galleries. And we also profile
the Italian design duo who many consider to be among the
most artistic in the world of haute couture: Domenico Dolce
and Stefano Gabbana. As you’ll discover in our exclusive feature
on page 30, their aesthetic is not to embrace trends but rather
to create products whose DNA is rooted in Italian timelessness
– in their words, “inspired by life, people and love”.
There are, as always, many other features in this issue,
including visits to Porto, Saint-Émilion and chef Ana Roš’s
deservedly feted eatery in Slovenia that we hope will inspire a
flight of fancy. As Dolce and Gabbana put it in our interview,
“We love to travel: it inspires us and makes us dream.” We hope
you derive the same contentment wherever you are travelling
with NetJets.
– The Editors
This symbol throughout the magazine denotes the nearest airport served
by NetJets to the story’s subject, with approximate distances in miles and
kilometres, where applicable.
CONTRIBUTORS
AVRIL GROOM
The fashion writer enjoyed a
fascinating glimpse inside the
world of Dolce & Gabbana
when she talked to the everoriginal
brand’s eponymous
founders on their philosophy
and their future for The
Ultimate Freedom (page 30).
LAURIE KAHLE
In It’s Complicated
(page 48), our horological
correspondent examines
the popularity of perpetual
calendars and evaluates new
iterations of the complication
from renowned names
in the world of watchmaking.
LESLIE THRELKELD
For years show jumping has
revolved around the Olympics,
but as the equestrian expert
from North Carolina found out
for When Elegance Meets
Adrenaline (page 34), a new
competition is raising the sport
to greater heights.
FLORIAN HOLZHERR
The Munich native has long
held a fascination for Marfa,
a town transformed from
a quiet backwater into a
cultural centre in the 1970s,
and which the photographer
captured for Texas’s Art
Paradise (page 74).
LANIE GOODMAN
The American writer, who
lives in the South of France,
travelled down the coast to
discover how education is at
the heart of all the inspiring
work carried out by Monacobased
charity Mission Enfance
for Children First (page12).
6 NetJets

CONTENTS
SCHOOLS IN FOCUS
pages 12-14
The Monaco-based charity
Mission Enfance is making a
difference through education
DYNAMIC DUO
pages 30-33
Haute couture titans Domenico
Dolce and Stefano Gabbana discuss
their inspiration and philosophy
IN THE NEWS
pages 16-24
An Andalucían retreat, Keith
McNally on Pastis reborn,
the American West in focus –
and more
NETJETS UPDATE
pages 26-29
Special events in Bordeaux
and Basel, a pilot in profile and
company-wide information
IN THE SADDLE
pages 34-37
Outside the Olympics, the Global
Champions League is raising the
profile of show jumping worldwide
CANARY CHIC
pages 38-47
This season’s fashions match
the rugged landscapes on the
scenic isle of Lanzarote
ULTIMATE ANACHRONISMS
pages 48-52
Perpetual calendars are high on
the agenda for watch enthusiasts with
an eye for complications
8 NetJets

BEYOND THE VINE
pages 54-61
Porto is emerging from the shadow
of Lisbon with culinary credentials
to match its eponymous wine
THE GOOD LIFE
pages 72-73
Uncovering the finest new spirits,
books to whet the palate and
a high-class humidor
SLOVENIAN SENSATION
pages 62-65
Just across the border from Italy,
Ana Roš is using local bounty to
produce a singular dining destination
MARFA IN PICTURES
pages 74-81
Contemporary works are juxtaposed
with grand scenery in the cultural
paradise in West Texas
BEST OF BORDEAUX
pages 66-67
Château Cheval Blanc changed
what people thought of Saint-Émilion
wine – and it’s not finished yet
THE LAST WORD
page 82
Paris Panthers rider Jennifer Gates
on what she enjoys in life away
from the equestrian arena
A QUESTION OF REALITY
pages 68-71
The art world is embracing virtual
reality without being quite sure how
– or whether – it will be collectible
CEBB PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES
I M Pei’s Louvre
Pyramid, page 28
9 NetJets

NetJets, The Magazine
VOLUME 9 – AUTUMN 2019
FRONT COVER
A study in contrasts from Millard County, Utah:
pivot agriculture fields fit snugly around
an ancient lava outcrop (see page 24 for
an update from the American West)
Image by Daily Overview,
source imagery: © Maxar Technologies
NetJets, The Magazine is
the official title for Owners
of NetJets in Europe.
NetJets, The Magazine
is published quarterly
by JI Experience GmbH
on behalf of NetJets
Management Ltd.
NetJets Management Ltd
5 Young Street
London, W8 5EH
England, United Kingdom
netjets.com
+44 (0)20 7361 9600
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Thomas Midulla
EDITOR
Farhad Heydari
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Anne Plamann
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Martin Kreuzer
ART DIRECTOR
Anja Eichinger
MANAGING EDITOR
John McNamara
SENIOR EDITOR
Brian Noone
STAFF WRITER
Claudia Roelke
WRITERS, CONTRIBUTORS,
PHOTOGRAPHERS AND
ILLUSTRATORS
Peita Blythe, Rob Crossan,
Stephan Glathe, Lanie
Goodman, Avril Groom,
Florian Holzherr,
Laurie Kahle, Bill Knott,
Jen Murphy, Julian Rentzsch,
Paul Richardson, Leslie
Threlkeld
Published by JI Experience
GmbH Hanns-Seidel-Platz 5
81737 Munich, Germany
GROUP PUBLISHER
Christian Schwalbach
Michael Klotz (Associate)
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Albert Keller
Copyright © 2019
by JI Experience GmbH.
All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole
or in part without the
express written permission
of the publisher is strictly
prohibited. The publisher,
NetJets Management Ltd.,
and its subsidiaries
or affiliated companies
assume no responsibility
for errors and omissions
and are not responsible
for unsolicited
manuscripts, photographs
or artwork. Views
expressed are not
necessarily those of
the publisher or NetJets
Management Ltd.
Information is correct at
time of going to press.
CHIEF SUB-EDITOR
Vicki Reeve
SEPARATION
Jennifer Wiesner
ADVERTISING SALES
Katherine Galligan
katherine@metropolist.co.uk
Vishal Raguvanshi
vishal@metropolist.co.uk
10 NetJets

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spotlight
CHILDREN FIRST
Monaco-based Mission Enfance is rebuilding
conflict-torn places around the globe
using the bricks and mortar of knowledge
By Lanie Goodman
12 NetJets

Imagine rows and rows of white tents, as
far as the eye can see, side by side. Each
may have ten to fifteen family members
living together in the same space. It is
their only world.”
Domitille Lagourgue, Director of Mission
Enfance, who has just returned from Iraq,
is describing the multitudes of displaced
refugees living on Iraqi soil, among them
more than 16,000 in the camp of Sharya,
in Iraqi Kurdistan. “They cannot remain in
these camps indefinitely because their entire
family structure is destabilised,” she says.
“The father, who might be a farmer, loses his
paternal authority, his role as the breadwinner.
All he has is a meal ticket.”
Which is why the French and Monégasque
organisation Mission Enfance has a deepseated
commitment that goes beyond giving
aid to devastated, war-torn areas. “Our
leitmotif has always been rehabilitation. We
Children at a
Colombian school,
that has benefited
from Mission
Enfance’s aid
encourage people to wait out the conflict
instead of fleeing and try to help them return
to the place where they were born,” says
Lagourgue. “Of course, we can’t send villagers
back to a dangerous place under bombardment.
But once they’re able to return to their homes
– which are often in very remote places – we
give them access to food, medical treatment
and, most importantly, we build schools.”
Lagourgue, an engaging, energetic
woman with lively eyes and mellifluous
voice, sits behind a wooden desk piled with
papers, notebooks and Post-it Notes stuck
to the computer screen. Here and there are
framed photos of her with a team, visiting
construction sites or talking to children.
It is almost hard to imagine how so many
complex international projects originate from
this modest office, hidden away in Monaco’s
modern district, Fontvieille.
“School is a centre of life, a place where
a terrorised child, who may have lost his
parents or his home, will be distracted. We try
to open their minds and bring them beyond
their suffering, so that they can experience
their childhood.”
The plight of refugees is, in fact, nothing
new to Lagourgue. In 1986, along with
her husband, Edouard, and their two small
daughters, she moved from Paris to live for
two years in Peshawar, Pakistan, near the
Afghan border. “It was during the political
unrest of the Soviet-Afghan war,” she
explains. “At the time, we were based at the
French humanitarian refugee camp staffed by
organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières.
We made incursions into Afghan territory,
even though the borders were closed.”
Working as a journalist for French
publications including L’Express and La
Croix, Lagourgue witnessed the migration of
millions of Afghans who fled to Pakistan or
Iran. “Every day, we saw caravans of camels
with families, carrying all their belongings,”
she recalls. “It was massive.”
In 1991, she relocated to Monaco, teaming
up with a Monegasque priest, Father Stéphane
Aumonier, who co-founded Mission
Enfance. “At the time, Prince Rainier III was
looking to expand humanitarian associations.
It gave us an opportunity to continue what
we’d already begun in Afghanistan and to
pursue an ideal that we believed in.”
Combining this association with
Lagourgue’s widespread network, the
small-scale organisation quickly achieved
impressive results. To date, Mission Enfance
helps children who would otherwise never
have the possibility to attend school in places
including Afghanistan, Armenia, Burkina
Faso, Colombia, Iraqi Kurdistan, Laos,
Lebanon, Syria and Vietnam.
In contrast with other humanitarian
organisations with more substantial budgets,
Mission Enfance focuses on projects in
isolated areas in the desert or the countryside
where larger NGOs don’t often venture.
“With €1.5 million, we build ten new schools
each year,” Lagourgue says. “In 28 years,
we have educated more than 1 million and
taught them to read and write.”
Their annual budget also covers a variety
of community programmes: among them, the
creation of ten educational centres with game
and toy libraries, six orphanages, a nursery
and ten health clinics.
These days, under the Honorary Presidency
of HSH Prince Albert II, the Principality
of Monaco finances 80% of the charity’s
operations, while private donors contribute
the remaining 20% of the funding. With only
three permanent employees, 50 local workers
in the field and approximately 35 volunteers,
the low cost for internal operations is clearly
significant. “For a donation of €100, we send
€99.40 to the project area and take out next
to nothing,” affirms Lagourgue with a smile.
“We have 4,000 private donors, mostly in
France and Monaco. They know that their
money is going directly to the field.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
“School is a centre of life,
a place where a terrorised
child will be distracted”
13 NetJets

spotlight
“In a world overloaded with multiple
emergencies, our biggest challenge is
to continue to mobilise our donors”
The organisation also receives support
from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
which donated €428,000 to build two new
schools in the arid mountainous region of
Sinjar, Iraq, northwest of Mosul. The city
of Paris participates in creating a Mission
Enfance school for Yazidi displaced in
northern Iraqi camps.
“Since 1992, when Mission Enfance first
started working in Iraq, the population has
never known a peaceful time,” Lagourgue
points out. “There have always been conflicts
– tribal, political, ethnic – and then came the
Isis massacres in 2014.”
“We’re in the process of constructing our
sixth school in the area in the Nineveh Plains,
inhabited by the Yazidi. We also work with
the Christian community, which has always
lived in that zone, and where you’ll find an
incredible archaeological heritage and some of
the world’s most ancient churches. Right now,
in one of the villages that was 90% destroyed,
one of our projects is taking charge of Yazidi
girls so that they can go to university in Mosul.
We finance the housing and food, but since
it’s still very dangerous, particularly for young
girls, the students travel 25 kilometres back
and forth on a special bus.”
Projects vary widely, Lagourgue explains,
but she stresses the importance of establishing
a sense of community. For villagers who have
returned and are slowly rebuilding their
homes from the debris, it might be as modest
as a rehabilitated garden with refreshment
stands where families can congregate, hold
weddings or dance.
Mission Enfance has also just completed
an educational centre at Mazar-e Sharif,
situated in the northern part of Afghanistan,
intended for 2,800 children who were forced
to flee when Isis invaded their territory. “We
work in a very impoverished neighbourhood,”
Lagourgue says, “but our goal is to bring
students from their first year all the way to
terminale, so they can take their baccalaureate.”
A class at the school in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan
Of course, nothing would run smoothly if
traditions were not respected. She cites the
example of needing to divide the classes into
shifts, as soon as the girls reach puberty, so
that boys and girls are not sitting next to each
other on the same bench. In these matters,
needless to say, establishing a local network is
paramount. “Here, our team is headed by an
Afghan engineer and his paediatrician wife,
who know the cultural imperatives. True, we
advance very slowly. Still, since 2005, we’ve
sent 5,000 children to school in Afghanistan.”
And now, almost three decades later, the
individual success stories are impressive.
Lagourgue cites the example of a young boy
living in Burkina Faso, sponsored by a private
donor, who is now pursuing a doctorate in
law at the Université de Franche Comté in
Besançon, eastern France. Upon graduation,
he intends to return to his country to try and
reform the antiquated judiciary system.
“In a world overloaded with contradictory
information and multiple emergencies, our
biggest challenge is to continue to mobilise
our donors to provide a long-term education
to those who are the most helpless,” says
Olivier de Richoufftz, a member of the Board
of Directors.
Ensuring the continuous financing of
humanitarian projects is equally crucial.
“It’s very difficult to have to abandon them
along the way, solely for budgetary reasons,
when they carry so much promise,” adds
Christophe Rhodius, another Board trustee.
Lagourgue, who makes frequent site visits
all over the world, is unequivocal about the
importance of a step-by-step approach that
will open doors of possibility. “When you’ve
lost everything and your home is in ruins, one
way of renewing hope is by having a place to
learn. It may not sound as urgent as giving a
sack of rice to a family, which we also do. But
above all, what Mission Enfance provides is
an infrastructure where children can rebuild
their world and believe in the future.”
mission.enfance.org
© MISSION ENFANCE
14 NetJets

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essentials
THE SMART GUIDE
A timely round-up of the latest travel news and destinations,
restaurant revelations and must-have accessories
Gibraltar Airport:
36miles/58km
UNDER THE SPANISH SUN
An Andalucían escape par excellence, the new Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Benahavís Marbella Resort
makes a stunning first impression. Guests arriving here are greeted by large expanses of softly undulating
manicured grounds, a bucolic lake and a majestic, rose-hued palazzo-style edifice harbouring more than
1,200 original paintings, sculptures and artefacts. Once checked in to any one of the hotel’s 138 elegant
rooms, suites and villas – each with spacious terraces – most won’t see the need to leave the property with the
array of incredibly diverse adventures on offer. For keen golfers, there’s a trio of 18-hole courses as well as an
academy by one-time US Open winner Michael Campbell, while a more sybaritic experience can be had at
the spa, which, inspired by Roman baths, comprises, among other things, a hydrotherapy circuit, a hammam
and a comprehensive menu of medical beauty treatments. Just as invigorating is the cuisine: home to the newest
outpost of the feted Spanish marque 99 Sushi Bar & Restaurant as well as “O”, a sleek Andalucía-inflected
eatery by two-Michelin-star chef Paco Roncero, among several other chic dining outlets. A gourmet meal here is
best capped off at Eddy’s Bar, a living-room style establishment serving innovative cocktails by award-winning
mixologist Diego Cabrera. anantara.com
© ANANTARA VILLA PADIERNA
16 NetJets

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essentials
ROOM FOR INVENTION
The Cotton Factory is a fresh culinary concept in Manchester
set in a truly exceptional space
Once a mill, now an intriguing
culinary destination, The Cotton
Factory is bringing an everevolving
selection of global cuisine to the
North of England. Housed in Whitworth
Locke hotel, in the heart of Manchester, the
concept, in collaboration with the Londonbased
food and beverage specialists The
Initiative Group, utilises the beguiling space
to create pop-up restaurants from some of
the exciting up-and-coming independent
operators around the world. The first
of these short-term residencies when it
opened in July was the Mexican brand El
Camino, which created a bespoke menu
that included beer-braised ox cheek tacos
with chipotle aioli, red pickled chilli and
crispy shallots; massa fried chicken tacos
with red salsa and habanero aioli, as well
as vegetarian options such as chipotle
cauliflower taco with radish, red chilli and
sweet potato puree – all washed down
with tequila cocktails. An open-plan kitchen
provides diners with an insight into the
workings of the chef. The new residencies
will be awaited with great anticipation.
lockeliving.com
El Camino’s exquisite Mexican fare found a
fitting home in The Cotton Factory
LUCAS SMITH
18 NetJets
Manchester Airport: 9miles/14km

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essentials
FIVE MINUTES WITH
Keith McNally
Manhattan’s Downtown
dining revolution can be
traced back to a dozen
spots, and most of them
are Keith McNally’s.
Balthazar, Schiller’s, The
Odeon, Pravda, Pastis,
Lucky Strike, Morandi,
Minetta Tavern. All were
shepherded into their pitchperfect,
supremely cool
existence by the Londonborn
restaurateur, who at
this point has nothing left to
prove. And yet McNally
reopened Pastis (pictured)
this spring, less than 100
metres from its original
location in the Meatpacking
District (the first incarnation
closed in 2014). A
longtime friend of McNally,
NetJets, The Magazine
Editor Farhad Heydari
spoke to him about the relaunch
and what he looks
for in a restaurant.
MANY A HEART BROKE WHEN
PASTIS CLOSED — WAS THE PLAN
ALWAYS TO BRING IT BACK? My
plan was always to bring Pastis to the
Meatpacking District. The last few years
of its 15-year lease, Pastis was busy
every night, but our landlord was
greedy and wanted to triple my rent, so I
was forced out.
AT THE NEW PLACE, WHAT
DIFFERENCES WILL DEVOTEES NOTICE?
The new Pastis is more spacious and
the food‘s better!
TODAY’S GASTRONOMIC CLIMATE
DOESN’T SEEM AS FRIENDLY
TO FRENCH FARE AS IT ONCE WAS.
BUT IS THAT THE POINT, TO BE
CONTRARIAN? Classic bistro fare
has been around since the Napoleonic
Wars, which is almost as long as I‘ve
been eating it. As well as Italian, French
bistro food is what I most like to eat. I
can appreciate Modern Nordic and
other dining trends without wishing to
build a restaurant around them. I only
ever build restaurants that I want to go to
five nights a week.
WHAT SHOULD FIRST-TIMERS
ORDER? The escargots and either the
grilled salmon or the steak frites.
YOUR RESTAURANTS HAVE A
WHOLLY UNIQUE MISE EN
SCÈNE THAT CONSISTENTLY
DRAWS THE FASHIONABLE
CROWD. IS THIS INTENTIONAL?
I never build a restaurant with anyone
in mind except myself.
HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING
IN THE NEW RESTAURANT TO
COMBAT (OR ENCOURAGE)
PEOPLE ON THEIR PHONES?
Hopefully, at the new Pastis, the
guests will be so enamoured of the
look of the place and the food
they‘ll forget about their effing phones!
AT RESTAURANTS THAT AREN’T
YOURS, WHAT SCREAMS THAT
IT’S WELL EXECUTED? When the
server prefaces announcing of the
day‘s specials with “We have“ and
not the pretentious “I have“.
WHAT CAN’T YOU OVERLOOK IN
A RESTAURANT? Mediocrity.
WITH YOUR TRACK RECORD,
YOU’RE DOUBTLESS
APPROACHED FOR
INNUMERABLE PROJECTS –
WHAT’S NEXT? Pastis is the last
restaurant I‘ll ever build.
LOUISE PALMBERG; ILLUSTRATION: JULIAN RENTZSCH
20 NetJets
Teterboro Airport: 14miles/22km

WASTE NOT
Alabama-based motorcycle manufacturer CURTISS has pared down its
latest creation, Hades, to the bare minimum of materials while keeping power in mind.
The all-electric motorcycle has a horizontal battery vault that targets a total
output of 217hp. curtissmotorcycles.com
BELGIAN BEAUTY
Peaceful countryside and elegant accommodation
combine at Domaine La Butte aux Bois
© CURTISS, ANNE LEFEVRE, HUGO THOMASSEN
On the doorstep of the heathland and pine forests of Hoge
Kempen National Park, in the Limburg province of Belgium,
Domaine La Butte aux Bois matches its stunning natural
surrounds with a country estate of plentiful opportunities. Built
in 1924 and once the home of the noble Lagasse de Locht
family, “the Hill in the Woods” in Lanaken is now an ecochic
resort that provides a supreme luxe experience in the
most private of locations. With just 59 rooms spread across
three buildings – Le Manoir, La Villa and La Forêt – intimacy
is assured. True pampering comes at the Spa Retreat La
Forêt, where the facilities include an indoor pool, panoramic
sauna, treatment booths, a hammam and covered jacuzzi.
Once guests are relaxed, culinary delights await at Chef Ralf
Berendsen’s two-Michelin star restaurant La Source, which
charms with signature dishes such as trio of langoustine
with tandoori masala, miso and couscous, and at Le Bistrot,
where guests can enjoy classic dishes made from carefully
selected regional and seasonal products. All the gourmet
delights can be accompanied by one of the more than 400
wines that await in Domaine La Butte aux Bois’s vaults. The
resort also specialises in providing experiences that take
advantage of its exceptional location and facilities such
as a Game Brunch on 20 October – including a guided
hike through the Hoge Kempen with a ranger – or the New
Year’s Eve Gala, which features four courses of culinary joy
in the majestic Napoléon ballroom. labutteauxbois.be
Maastricht Airport: 12miles/19km
21 NetJets

essentials
For the Helix Collection –
stainless steel coffee and tea
service sets – GEORG JENSEN
collaborated with Swedish
designers Bernadotte & Kylberg.
georgjensen.com
Scent to Go from JO MALONE is a
clever way to perfume small spaces
when you’re on the move, with
fragances including English Pear
& freesia. jomalone.com
FLORIS‘s Vert Fougère balances
tradition and innovation in a blend
that offers smoky, velvety and
woody accords. florislondon.com
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO‘s Gentil
Suono is a woody floral musk
for men and women. ferragamo.com
Escorial Albany trilby and Escorial
baseball cap from London hatters
LOCK & CO. lockhatters.co.uk
AESOP, whose products are
stocked on board NetJets flights,
has produced Seeking Silence
Facial Hydrator, a lightweight
moisturising lotion designed to
bring a sense of calm to sensitive
skin. aesop.com
A new range
from DUNHILL, the
Belgrave Collection
includes this small
crossbody bag in
leather with the
brand’s signature
Engine Turn pattern
at buckle closure.
dunhill.com
Scents of New York:
MALIN+GOETZ’s leather
is a modern update on
the old-age practice
of using fragrances on
goods made of the
eponymous material,
while LE LABO has
added to its City
Exclusive line with the
Miami-inspired Tabac
28. malinandgoetz.com;
lelabofragrances.com
COURTESY OF THE VENDORS
22 NetJets

Global
THE NEXT LEVEL OF
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essentials
WESTWARD HO
The rugged hinterlands of the American
West are becoming more comfortable thanks
to an influx of hostelries and restaurants
bringing urban comforts. By Jen Murphy
The West is still wild but, luckily, you won’t need to
rough it like a frontiersman thanks to UNDER CANVAS
(undercanvas.com). The glamping outfitter’s new
26-tent site combines the best of camping and cowboy
life with a location adjacent to Arizona’s cactus-studded
Saguaro National Park and steps from the dining and
amenities of luxe-dude ranch Tanque Verde. Guests can
play wrangler by day, then toast s’mores and stargaze on
the deck of their palatial safari tent at night.
On the rugged coast of Oregon, glamping gets a New
Nordic twist at BAY POINT LANDING (baypointlanding.
com). Angular, Scandi-influenced cabins designed by
acclaimed California studio R&A Architecture are outfitted
with warm Pendleton blankets, Beekman 1802 amenities
and smart TVs with Hulu and Netflix, just in case you get
bored with the ocean views.
Colorado’s backcountry finally has a base that rivals
the gourmet mountain huts of Europe. Set at 3,353 metres
in the San Juan mountain range, RED MOUNTAIN ALPINE
LODGE (redmountainalpinelodge.com) is a timber A-frame
Clockwise from top: a Bay Point Landing cabin; glamping at
Under Canvas; Cheyenne Club restaurant at The Farm at Bush Creek;
view from The Lodge at Blue Sky
with three private rooms and a large loft that sleeps up to
20. Radiant-floor heating, a wood-burning sauna and a wine
collection with a stellar selection of Châteauneuf-du-Pape
ensure guests keep cosy in winter. But the real draws are the
in-house guides and hundreds of hectares of tree-skiing right
out the front door.
In Utah, the new LODGE AT BLUE SKY (aubergeresorts.
com/bluesky), located just outside Park City, debuts an
exclusive heli-ski programme this winter giving powderhounds
with deep pockets access to three private ski zones in the
Uinta and Wasatch mountain ranges. Lay fresh tracks in
alpine bowls and steep chutes all morning, then return and
indulge with refined mountain fare at Yuta restaurant or with
a flight of whiskeys at on-site distillery High West.
The culinary factor has also been upped in Saratoga,
Wyoming, where the debut of THE FARM AT BRUSH CREEK
RANCH (brushcreekranch.com) takes the seed-to-table concept
to new levels. Tasting menus at the Cheyenne Club restaurant
showcase ingredients produced in the on-site creamery,
bakery and 1,858sq m organic greenhouse as well as meat
from the farm’s herd of Japanese Wagyu cows. Hidden below
the dining room, you’ll find a James Bond-worthy speakeasy
stocked with rare whiskeys and a 30,000-bottle wine cellar.
© BAY POINT LANDING, © LODGE AT BLUE SKY, © UNDER CANVAS, © BRUSH CREEK RANCH
24 NetJets

MARK BRADFORD
CERBERUS
2 OCTOBER – 21 DECEMBER 2019
LONDON
WWW.HAUSERWIRTH.COM
MARK BRADFORD, THE PATH TO THE RIVER BELONGS TO ANIMALS, 2019, MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, 168.9 × 228.9 CM / 66 1/2 × 90 1/8 IN, PHOTO: JOSHUA WHITE

essentials
NOTES FROM NETJETS
The faces behind the firm, exclusive Owners’ events and more
ON THE VINE
In July, NetJets Owners were invited to attend a tour of the world-renowned Château Cheval Blanc, followed by
a wine tasting and lunch in the stunning surroundings of the winery, where vines have been grown as far back as
the 15th century. Since the acquisition of the vineyard by LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and the late Belgian
billionaire Albert Frère in 1998, it has undergone some dynamic regeneration and Owners were able to enjoy
the magnificent sights – and produce – of the state-of-the-art cellars. For more on the past and present of the
Cheval Blanc vineyard, see In Praise of Provenance, page 66.
MATTHEW WALDER
26 NetJets

YOU STARTED AT NETJETS IN … 2005 as a pilot on the Citation XL,
then joined the training team as a Line Trainer in 2006.
INSIDE TRACK
Jérôme Verhaegen
Head of Crew Training
YOUR NORMAL DAY CONSISTS OF … working closely with the Crew
Training team, while collaborating with Flight Operation, to support and
manage the flying and ground Instructors, to produce and follow up the
delivery of all flying and cabin crew training programmes. This includes
ground course, simulator and Line Flying Training. This is quite a challenge as
we are currently developing the training for six different fleets, working with
14 different licensing authorities and performing simulator training at eight
different simulator centres. Safety being our No 1 priority, we need to ensure
that all crew members are trained to the highest level of proficiency and
are able to enhance the Owner experience in all different situations, weather
and airports independently of the conditions or accessibility.
THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB IS … the team I’m working with
on a day-to-day basis. All are real professionals and are very proud to work
for NetJets. The team is solution-oriented and will always try to enhance
the Owner experience and foster safety. This is based on strong values like
professionalism, passion, collaboration and teamwork. On a personal note,
the reward of helping pilots and cabin crew to acquire and maintain the
best proficiency level even when facing difficult times.
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU FACE IN YOUR ROLE IS … to make
sure that we stay on top of all the different regulations and training
processes, to ensure the best possible training delivery and crew satisfaction.
NATHAN GALLAGHER; ILLUSTRATION: JULIAN RENTZSCH
BASEL AND BEYOND
NetJets’ relationship with the world-leading art show, now in
its 18th year, is as strong and productive as ever
NetJets has yet again this year created
events in Art Basel and Art Basel Miami
Beach, with a VIP lounge within the
Collectors’ Area that provides owners with
hospitality throughout the week. And each
year is marked by a collaboration with
artists of renown, creating an installation
that enhances the experience beyond a
mere escape from the hustle and bustle of
the show. American painter, sculptor and
photographer Matthew Day Jackson, left,
is this year’s chosen artist and his Solipsist
series (2018), was shown in NetJets VIP
Lounge at Art Basel and will be on display
at Art Basel Miami in December. The
paintings are aerial views of landscapes
that are disappearing due to climate
change, with a single satellite looking on
from above. Made of silkscreened Formica
with cast-lead elements, the laser-etched
images are uncanny maps, both emotive
and conceptual, of the Earth and our place
in it. Art Basel takes place every June;
Art Basel Miami Beach, 5-8 December;
artbasel.com
27 NetJets

on the pulse
OUR FLEET
The 750 aircraft – a variety of types across four cabin classes – are all outfitted to NetJets’ highest standards.
This issue, we showcase the Cessna Citation Latitude, a midsize cabin jet of consummate class
MIDSIZE CABIN
CESSNA CITATION LATITUDE
Typical flight
London/Baku
Range (distance)
3,155sm /
5,077km
Range (hours)
7,hrs
Speed
495mph/797kph
Passenger capacity
7 (Up to 8 with
belted lavatory)
Cabin height
6ft/1.83m
Cabin width
6.4ft/1.95m
Cabin length
21.75ft/6.63m
NetJets worked extensively with Cessna to design a
midsize aircraft with the amenities of a large cabin
jet combined with the nimble performance of a light
one. The Citation Latitude hosts a range of state-ofthe-art
onboard technology, including Inmarsat’s Swift
Broadband, a Satellite-based wifi system accessible
across the globe.
LIGHT CABIN
EMBRAER PHENOM 300
LARGE CABIN
DASSAULT FALCON 2000 E X
Typical flight
London/Berlin
Range (distance)
1,689sm/2,718 km
Range (hours)
4hrs
Speed
495mph/797kph
Passenger capacity
6 (Up to 7 with
belted lavatory)
Cabin height
4.9ft/1.49m
Cabin width
5.1ft/1.55m
Cabin length
17.2ft/5.24m
Typical flight
London/Dubai
Range (distance)
4,260sm/6,855km
Range (hours)
8hrs 45minutes
Speed
528 mph/850 kph
Passenger capacity
10
Cabin height
6.2ft/1.88m
Cabin width
7.7 ft/2.34m
Cabin length
31ft/9.45m
SUPER-MIDSIZE CABIN
BOMBARDIER CHALLENGER 350
LARGE CABIN
BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 6000
Typical flight
London/Riyadh
Range (distance)
3,786sm/6,093km
Range (hours)
7hrs 45mins
Speed
540mph/869 kph
Passenger capacity
9 (up to 10 with belted
lavatory)
Cabin height
6.08ft/1.85m
Cabin width
7.17ft/2.19 m
Cabin length
28.6 ft/8.7m
Typical flight
London/Tokyo
Range (distance)
7,123sm/11,472km
Range (hours)
13hrs 50mins
Speed
560mph/901kph
Passenger capacity
13 (up to 14 using
the crew rest area)
Cabin height
6.25ft/1.9m
Cabin width
8.2ft/2.5m
Cabin length
48.1ft/14.7m
28 NetJets

and present, all pulling together to get the
aircraft that I pilot airborne safely. For me to
be offered the captain’s seat in this human
endeavour is an immense privilege, and one
that must be earned every day.
BEFORE JOINING THE NETJETS TEAM,
I WAS … among other things, training for
my private pilot’s licence and then working
as an instructor in the same school where I
got it on light aircraft in Cannes. I had no
money, so I’d actually paid for my licence
with 500 T-shirts. The owner gave me a
chance by letting me offer him the shirts in
exchange for the flying as he thought the
company was going bust. Then it did
and when the firm was reborn, I became
an instructor and then chief instructor.
JULIAN RENTZSCH
PILOTS IN PROFILE
Adam Firth
Captain on the Dassault Falcon fleet
MY FIRST EXPOSURE TO FLYING WAS …
on a BOAC Bristol Britannia from London to
Georgetown, Guyana, via New York. I was
five years old and I have a picture of myself in
the captain’s seat of that aircraft. And I keep
that picture in my pilot’s licence to this day.
I lived in Guyana until I was ten years old. I
really lived a Huckleberry Finn life by the side
of the mighty Demerara River, which was the
only link to the outside world. The company
my father worked for had two aircraft – a
Grumman Goose and a de Havilland
DHC-3, both of which took off from the river.
Sometimes our company pilot would strap me
into the copilot seat and the dream was born.
THE BEST PART OF FLYING IS …
experiencing the marriage of team, machine
and dynasty. The combined coordinated
skill and positive intent of many people, past
ONE THING OWNERS PROBABLY
WOULDN’T GUESS ABOUT ME IS ...
I initially trained as an artist and printer.
I specialised in making portraits of people.
I spent two years in Tamil Nadu, India,
teaching art and makng portraits of local
temple sculptors and musicians, some
of whose families had been in the same
profession for over 4,000 years.
ON MY DAYS OFF … I teach people to fly
into little mountain strips in the French Alps.
I renewed my instructor’s rating and added
a mountain rating. I teach people to land
on glaciers on ski-equipped aircraft. And in
the winter time, I do cross-country skiing.
WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, I
WOULD LIKE TO … retire! Which I will
do in two years, but at the moment I am
continuing to fly full-time. After that I would
like to wind down my career and increase
the amount of mountain flight I do.
MY PROUDEST MOMENT AS A PILOT
WAS … probably what most captains
are going to say: definitely taking my first
command in NetJets on the Hawker. It
was from Samedan to Moscow. At 1,700
metres in a very, very steep-sided valley
in Switzerland. And in the winter time, it’s
covered in snow. So it’s challenging but it’s
very interesting. That was a good start
and my father was alive at that time and it
was a great moment for him too.
29 NetJets

owners profile
THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM
30 NetJets

Italian couture titans Domenico Dolce
and Stefano Gabbana muse on
what makes their style unique and why,
unlike some luxury brands with
billion-euro turnovers, they remain
fiercely independent
By Avril Groom
Designer duo Stefano
Gabbana, left, and
Domenico Dolce
remain bold spirits in
the fashion world
STEFANO BABIC
Dolce & Gabbana’s autumn/winter
19/20 show – held as usual in their
own fashion theatre in Milan – was
elegant and, by their standards,
surprisingly restrained. Entitled “Eleganza”
and with the words “Fatto a mano” (made by
hand) embroidered on some dresses, it drew
attention to the timeless crafts that are essential
to their beautifully constructed tailoring and
exuberantly embellished evening wear.
In place of the over-the-top inclusions of
recent shows – such as casts of hundreds and
stars like Monica Bellucci, Isabella Rossellini
and former French First Lady Carla Bruni
Sarkozy – instead the spectacle included
a black-and-white video of the designers’
workrooms, which looked almost as if it had
been filmed in the 1950s. After a somewhat
controversial year, it was a reminder of their
origins in the glorious bella figura of Italian
style, in the Catholic culture, lush gardens
and food, in their love of gold-braided pomp
and even the gangsterism of Dolce’s native
Sicily. It was a marked shift in emphasis
from high-octane glamour to powerfully
alluring investment dressing, but, as proudly
independent designers, Domenico Dolce
31 NetJets

owners profile
and Stefano Gabbana have plenty of
confidence to do this.
Both designers sum up the advantage of
this independent status – and spirit – in one
word: freedom. “Being free allows us to express
our creativity without any constraint, the most
important aspect of our work as designers,”
they say. “It’s essential and has allowed us to
build our message, a narrative that is clearly
reflected in our collections.” This aesthetic is
based, according to Dolce, on “contrast – our
style results from opposites coming together.
We mix different shapes and styles, exploring
all possible alternatives. On one side we have
the corset, black sheath dresses, lace skirts, all
very sensual. On the other side there are the
men’s-cut clothes, T-shirts and sneakers.”
Gabbana sees it more as an expression of
Italian culture. “Our design DNA is a mix of
elements based on our history of love, passion
for Italy, fashion, culture and the family,” he
says. Rather than being interested in fashion
trends, he says, “we create clothes and
accessories that talk about us and our love
for life. We keep up with what is happening:
we research, we look for new and different
fabrics, we read, but above all we are inspired
by life, people and love.” Travel is another
creative driving force: “It makes us dream,”
they say and appreciate how their status as
NetJets Owners helps cater to this desire.
Despite being outside the all-powerful
fashion combines, through judicious
partnerships with manufacturers Dolce
& Gabbana has built a full-scale fashion
empire that includes handbags, shoes,
sunglasses, perfumes and cosmetics, and
watches and jewellery. It also includes, in a
very unorthodox move, its Alta Moda, the
Italian equivalent of haute couture – oneoff,
hand-made, often elaborate items, fitted
and sometimes totally designed for one
client and never repeated exactly for another.
It is a time-consuming and very costly
operation that many houses treat more as a
promotional necessity. Traditional couture
”Alta Moda allows us to
push our creativity to the extreme
– we never have limits”
MONICA FEUDI
32 NetJets

A quartet of bravura
creations from Dolce
& Gabbana’s autumn/
winter 19/20 collections
houses like Chanel, Dior and Valentino
started with this and then branched into
ready-to-wear and accessories; Dolce &
Gabbana’s decision to reverse the route is
indicative of their sense of freedom, and it
provides a business model that other brands
are examining, now that the desire for the
unique among the most demanding global
clients sees them increasingly patronising
haute couture.
“We are not interested in fashion directions,
the so-called ‘trends’; we just want to fulfil the
dreams of our customers,” says Dolce. “Alta
Moda was our dream and we waited for the
right time to do it. In 2012 we presented the
first collection in Taormina, Sicily, and we have
so many good memories of that show, which
marked a huge change. Alta Moda allows us to
push our creativity to the extreme – we never
have limits.” Gabbana credits their “team of
super-talented tailors and seamstresses who
work with us”, a prime example of the muchvaunted
“Made in Italy” tradition.
That first show set another Dolce &
Gabbana pattern: twice-yearly displays of
the most exquisitely detailed and decorated
clothes, in a sumptuous, sometimes exotic,
location, for which clients and carefully
selected press are flown in to a three-day
party, that now includes reveals of the men’s
version – Alta Sartoria – and unique highjewellery
pieces and watches, all spun off
from the success of that first collection. It is
eminently social; clients renew friendships
with each other, as well as with the designers.
“We simply try to make them part of a real
family. We listen to them, we chat, we spend
time with them, building a relationship based
on humanity,” says Dolce. The clients have,
they say, been equally enthusiastic about the
accessories, unique examples of the best Italian
craft tradition in jewellery and watch-dial
making. “We like the idea of creating small
marvels that are collectables and that fulfil
our customers’ wishes,” they say. “To achieve
them takes time, work and a great passion for
what you are doing, and our customers are very
enthusiastic about this.”
This July, they returned to Sicily for an
extravaganza set in the town that was the home
of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of
The Leopard, one of their constant inspirations,
that took years to plan. Displayed among the
gloriously opulent clothes and jewels for both
sexes was their latest project: ornately engraved
gold and jewelled watches with a specially
designed movement that bring the brand into
yet another area of high-end luxury.
The pair are certainly not resting on their
laurels and are constantly seeking new markets
and new ways to spread their vision to a wider
customer base. Traditionally, the pinnacle of
fashion was aimed at a more mature client
on the assumption that few younger people
could afford it and those who could would
be introduced by their families. Now wealthy
millennials brought up on social media are
key, especially in the Far East, and Dolce &
Gabbana has been quick to capitalise, with
Instagram-ready, teen-star front rows and
the newest model names. Despite the pair’s
assertion that they “don’t like quantifying what
we do in terms of income – we are happy with
a millennial clientele but we love all customers
equally”, they and their advisers are clearly
nimble and shrewd.
They are also authentic in a way that
some big luxury brands are charged with no
longer being. They are now not the couple
in life that they were when they started, but
the success of their vision depends on the
dynamic between them and, as Dolce points
out, “We are united by a strong affection,
certain ties will never break.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without
Domenico!” exclaims Gabbana. “Of course
we fight, we have different ideas and opinions
and sometimes it takes a while before we get
to a decision. But in the end we always find
the solution that makes us both happy and
satisfied. We are two sides of the same coin.”
As to the future, with designers such as
Giorgio Armani and the late Karl Lagerfeld
working well into their eighties, at 61 and 56,
respectively, neither Dolce nor Gabbana is
looking to retire, or to change their business
model, any time soon. Which should keep
their wide-ranging legion of fans, so well
reflected on their catwalks, very happy indeed.
dolcegabbana.com
33 NetJets

WHERE
ELEGANCE MEETS
ADRENALINE
The Global Champions League
is the equestrian series
taking the sport to new heights
By Leslie Threlkeld
34 NetJets

clearing fences
S
how jumping might have been
inspired by the fox hunt – horses
needed to jump hedges and fences
in order to follow the hounds – but
the sport has come a long way since those
early days in the English countryside.
Indeed, Olympic medals for show
jumping have been given out continuously
since 1912, making it one of the oldest
events in the games, and in recent years
the Global Champions League (GCL) has
offered the sport’s elite an opportunity to
showcase its dizzying mélange of tradition,
athleticism, teamwork and training in some
of the world’s most spectacular locales – all
of which are a long way from the British
countryside.
Unlike many other Olympic sports, which
maintain the country-centric classification
in between the quadrennial events, show
jumping at the highest level has become like
international club football, where individual
teams bring together athletes from different
nations as a unit.
The GCL piggybacks on the similarly
named Longines Global Champions Tour
(LGCT) schedule, which since 2006 has
invited World and Olympic champions to
compete for unprecedented prize money.
A minimum of €300,000 is up for grabs at
individual competitions, and the overall
series classification allots €950,000 to the top
18 athletes.
LGCT founder and President Jan Tops,
an Olympic show jumping gold medallist
himself, set out to develop a series that
would raise the standards of competitive
show jumping across the globe. Established
35 NetJets

clearing fences
in 2016, the GCL specifically serves to bond
riders from multiple countries in a year-long
battle of skills on horseback that guarantees
to excite crowds, bolster the sport and unite
equestrian enthusiasts everywhere.
Brazil’s Yuri Mansur is a member of the
Paris Panthers team alongside former World
No 1 Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands,
Egypt’s Nayel Nassar, Darragh Kenny
of Ireland, Belgian Olympian Gregory
Wathelet and America’s rising star Jennifer
Gates (see in conversation with, p82).
Mansur, who began competing in the GCL
in 2017 as a member of the Mexico Amigos,
joined the Paris Panthers last year at Gates’
invitation. “GCL is a door for a modern
sport. It is a new point of view for team
competition and adds lots of value to our
sport,” he says. “It is very rich and we always
learn with each other.”
Uniquely designed to magnify the talents
of each team, the GCL is carefully organised
to reward consistent success. A maximum of
20 teams, made up of four to six riders, must
designate two or three people to compete at
each show, beginning with the season opener
at Doha in February and ending at the final
in Prague in November.
“Ultimately, the more clear rounds we can
jump as a unit, the better off we all are,” says
Nassar, who has ridden with the Panthers for
three years and is currently ranked 37th in
the world. “Just like horses, though, no two
riders are ever the same, so even though we
certainly have distinct strengths, it would
be hard to pinpoint exactly what those may
be. Having an aligned set of goals makes it
easy for us to support one another. When one
of us has a good round, it inspires the rest to
follow suit in order to keep the team on the
lowest possible score.”
The teams themselves are built specifically
to combine experienced talent with up-andcoming
stars of the sport. A minimum of two
athletes must rank within the top 250 of the
ASHLEY NEUHOF
36 NetJets

From far left: Nayel
Nassar and Jennifer
Gates in Hamburg,
where their Paris
Panthers team took
third place; teammate
Darragh Kenny at the
Chantilly event
Previous page: Harrie
Smolders in action at
Miami Beach
Longines FEI Jumping World Rankings as
of 31 August of the previous year. Teams are
encouraged to bring on board at least one
athlete who is 25 years of age or younger, a
position filled for the Panthers by 23-yearold
Gates.
Throughout the season, GCL competitions
consist of two jumping rounds set anywhere
from 1.5 to 1.6 metres in height, the same as
Olympic competition. The fastest time with
the fewest penalties (given as the result of
wood-core rails falling out of their supporting
cups due to a careless hoof ) is rewarded with
points on the leaderboard as well as additional
prize offerings for clear, or zero penalty, rounds
— which is to say, as much as €50,000 for
avoiding mistakes. The scores of each team’s
designated athletes are combined, and points
relative to the team’s overall placing are applied
to the year-end leaderboard.
After ten months of thrilling, edge-ofyour-seat
riding, teams convene in Prague
for the series conclusion, where the quarterfinal,
semi-final and final determine the
overall winner. With each round, teams are
eliminated, and the tension builds to an
incredible race for the win, which requires
equal parts bravery and caution.
Rob Hoekstra is the team manager for the
Paris Panthers and encourages the riders to
work together more intently to achieve their
goals. The team finished third at Valkenswaard
in August, and four team members are ranked
in the top 30 on the LGCT. They were also
third in June at Cascais/Estoril and Hamburg.
A second-place team finish is their best of the
2019 series, earned in Shanghai in May. The
Panthers still have some ground to cover; at
the time of writing, they were placed tenth in
the League. In show jumping, however, it’s not
over until the final fence is jumped, and three
series competitions remain on the schedule.
“[Hoekstra] generally wants the best horse
and rider combinations [competing] at any
given time. That being said, we will analyse
our team’s performance and take a hard
look at which horses and riders are in the
best form come November,” Nassar says
of the Panthers’ strategy looking ahead to
the final. “Prague is the only indoor venue
on the tour, so we will have to factor in our
horses’ strengths, too, as some are more
suited to that type of venue. Accordingly,
we will decide who represents the Panthers
in Prague, but the strategy is always to jump
as many clear rounds as possible, and I don’t
see that strategy changing any time soon.”
While a top placing is ideal, the
relationships developed over a year of
chasing a common goal, in beautiful places
across the globe and with knowledgeable
onlookers watching intently, is, at the very
least, a reward. Mansur cites the entire year
as being a memorable experience. “The
way we are dealing with the team is very
good. We had some [losses], but … we are
still able to manage and to guarantee good
results during the season.”
For Nassar, the memories made are more
specific: “So far, my most memorable show
was certainly GCL Hamburg. Jenn and I
rode on the team together for the first time
this season, and we managed to squeeze
onto the podium with a third place. Later
on that afternoon, I was also second in the
five-star LGCT Grand Prix to cap off a
great week from an individual standpoint
as well.”
“The whole team is getting ready for
the Playoffs,” Mansur says of his plans for
the rest of the year. “We are making all the
adjustments necessary, so we have more
riders ready and good to go at the end of the
year. We divide all shows during the season,
so we can have the horses fresh and ready to
succeed!” The Global Champions Playoffs take
place in the O2 Arena, Prague, between 21 and
24 November; globalchampionsleague.com
Prague Airport to O2 Arena: 14miles/22km
37 NetJets

LANZAROTE LOOKS
The wild landscapes and whitewashed towns
of the Spanish island provide an alluring backdrop
to the season’s standout fashions
Styled by Sayuri Bloom
Photography by Stephan Glathe
38 NetJets

isle of style
Him: ANN DEMEULEMEESTER
dark grey linen coat,
grey and dark green cotton
waistcoat, camel brown
linen trousers HERMÈS
leather boots
Her: ANN DEMEULEMEESTER
white cotton shirt
and white trousers, black
leather waistcoat
ZUHAIR MURAD black
heeled boots
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isle of style
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Above: MIU MIU beige shirt, corset with pockets, safari trousers and cheetah-print
pumps with crystals
Above right, her: ALEXANDER McQUEEN black suit with long sleeve collar detail;
him: CALVIN KLEIN black-and-white check shirt LEVI‘S black jeans jacket with fake fur
detail MSGM jumper (lying across the legs)
Facing page: BELSTAFF dark-red leather jacket MISSONI red and purple lined trousers
and knitted orange, red and purple jumper HERMÈS black leather boots
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isle of style
SYSTEM knitted roll-neck sweater, knitted vest poncho, wool coat
with fake-fur collar detail
Facing page: SALVATORE FERRAGAMO dark grey oversized coat with belt
BELSTAFF brown leather belt BALLY leather trousers HERMÈS leather boots
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isle of style
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Above: THE ROW long black robe with roll-neck RALPH & RUSSO
velvet belt with silver tiger heads
Left, him & her: PRADA hats, coats, vest and earrings
Facing page: FAITH CONNEXION black silk dress with ostrich feathers HOUSE OF MALAKAI
necklace ATELIER SWAROVSKI bracelet with crystals HERMÈS black wild-leather boots
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isle of style
BRUNELLO CUCINELLI camel-brown leather jacket, grey check jacket,
off-white roll-neck jumper and camel-brown cord trousers
Below: SYSTEM knitted roll-neck jumper, knitted vest poncho, wool
coat with fake-fur collar detail
Facing page, him & her: DOLCE & GABBANA hats, vest, shirt, coats,
earrings, trousers and shoes/boots CHANEL earrings
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HAIR: PAUL DONOVAN @ CLM; MAKE-UP: KERSTIN HAYDU; ASSISTANTS: MARIO BERTIERI AND STEPHANIE DEVRED
Lanzarote Airport
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perfect timing
IT’S COMPLICATED
Perpetual calendars are the connoisseurs’
wristwatch, and in the age of smartphones
they are trending once more
By Laurie Kahle
O
ur Gregorian calendar is full
of quirks, with some months
ending at 30 days, others
at 31 – and then, of course,
there’s February. Highly skilled watchmakers
have long addressed this vexing system
with a perpetual calendar complication, also
known as quantième perpétuel (QP), which
automatically adjusts for months of varying
lengths, including leap years.
Theoretically, if you kept these impressive
mechanical wrist computers fully wound and
optimally running, no calendar adjustment
would be necessary until 1 March 2100, when
Pope Gregory XIII’s idiosyncratic, 16thcentury
calendar dictates we skip the leap year.
The mechanism’s inherent technicity
makes it a testament to the skills of any
watchmaker who can master it. And, as a
result, perpetual calendars have long been the
provenance of the most discerning collectors.
This year, several brands are offering new
takes on the perpetual calendar, from
classical to contemporary, elegant to sporty.
A few other manufacturers have adjusted
their models to make the connoisseurs’
complication more broadly appealing.
With a history that spans 264 years,
VACHERON CONSTANTIN (vacheronconstantin.com)
has more experience than
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owner profile
Frederique Constant
Perpetual Calendar
Tourbillon Manufacture
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Facing page left to right:
Chopard LUC All-in-One;
Bovet Retrograde Perpetual
Calendar Récital 21
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perfect timing
Clockwise from top left: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Enamel; Montblanc Heritage
Perpetual Calendar; Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar
most with perpetuals. This year, the Swiss
brand took the genre to an entirely new
level with the innovative Traditionnelle
Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar, devised with
two balances, each operating at different
frequencies. A pusher allows you to switch
between active mode at 5Hz (36,000vph)
with four days of power reserve, and standby
mode at 1.2Hz (8,640vph), which extends
the power reserve to at least 65 days, reducing
the need to reset the watch if the power runs
down when you’re not wearing it.
Also appealing to its heritage, BOVET
(bovet.com) brought a new twist to the
traditional perpetual with the Retrograde
Perpetual Calendar Récital 21, noteworthy
for its unconventional design, a hallmark
of the brand that dates back to the 19th
century. Hours and minutes are read on a
small centre dial, encircled by a retrograde
date display. Apertures reveal the day, month
and leap year cycle. The inclined case shape,
inspired by an old writing desk, allows
enough volume for the small seconds hand
to sweep beneath the central dial in another
unexpected flourish.
Aesthetic delight is equally in focus at
AUDEMARS PIGUET (audemarspiguet.com),
which made a splash with this year’s launch
of CODE 11.59, a full-scale collection that
includes an elegant perpetual calendar with
a sparkly aventurine glass dial. While hardly
radical, CODE broke from convention with
a 41mm multipart case that alludes to the
brand’s bread-and-butter Royal Oak, with
an octagonal middle case and hexagonal
screws. The double-curved concave/convex
crystal visually enhances the dial.
Tradition is a powerful force in
watchmaking, and many new perpetual
calendars adhere to established aesthetic
codes with calendar information presented
on three sub-dials, often paired with a moon
phase display for good measure. In recent
years, PARMIGIANI FLEURIER (parmigiani.
com) has revisited its classical Toric collection,
embodying Michel Parmigiani’s devotion to
the golden ratio. This year, the brand presented
a new variation of its first wristwatch, the
Toric QP Retrograde, which debuted in 1999.
The design’s signature hand-knurled bezel
is preserved, while the case, lugs and crown
have been subtly streamlined and tweaked
for enhanced ergonomics. The new Toric
Quantième Perpétuel Rétrograde features an
instantaneously jumping retrograde date and
a precision moon phase that requires only one
correction every 122 years.
The latest Master Ultra Thin Perpetual
Enamel from JAEGER-LECOULTRE (jaegerlecoultre.com)
has also undergone a stunning
transformation with an updated JLC 868
movement that rotates the displays 180
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While perpetual calendars traditionally
have been dress watches,
old-school rules no longer apply
degrees, placing the moon phase at the
bottom of the dial. The 39mm white gold
limited edition of 100 stands apart with its
radiant hand-enamelled guilloché-engraved
dial layered with lustrous blue enamel.
Steeped in classicism, BLANCPAIN’s
(blancpain.com) Villeret Quantième Perpétuel
6656 also got a makeover in a limited edition
with a sunray blue dial. Restricted to 88
pieces, the slim, solid platinum version is
exclusively available in the brand’s boutiques.
Not one but three new perpetual calendars
based on models from the past feature in A
LANGE & SÖHNE’s (alange-soehne.com)
latest offerings, including the Langematik
Perpetual Honey Gold. And in April, the
brand further flaunted its technical expertise by
unveiling a silver anniversary limited edition,
commemorating the modern relaunch of the
brand in 1994, with the Lange 1 Tourbillon
Perpetual Calendar 25th Anniversary
comprising 25 pieces in white gold with a
blue-printed argenté-coloured dial.
Last year, CHOPARD (chopard.com)
revisited its super-complicated LUC Allin-One,
which debuted in 2010 to mark
the brand’s 150th anniversary. Two new
redesigned limited editions in rose gold and
platinum feature dual dials, with perpetual
calendar and tourbillon on the front and
astronomical functions on the back, making
the All-in-One the most complicated watch
that the brand has ever built.
While perpetual calendars traditionally
have been dress watches, old-school rules no
longer apply. GIRARD-PERREGAUX’S (girardperregaux.com)
Laureato Perpetual Calendar
introduced the complication into the brand’s
sporty steel model, originally launched in the
1970s. The unusual asymmetrical dial layout
features different sized sub-dials displaying
date, day and leap year, while the month
Clockwise from top left: Audemars Piguet CODE 11.59; Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Quantième Perpétuel
Rétrograde; A Lange & Söhne Langematik Perpetual Honey Gold; Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic
Perpetual Calendar
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perfect timing
These watches demonstrate the
wearer’s appreciation for craftmanship
Above: IWC Pilot’s Watch
Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
“Le Petit Prince”
Below, from left to right:
Blancpain Villeret
Quantième Perpétuel 6656;
Girard-Perregaux Laureato
Perpetual Calendar
appears in an elongated aperture across the
bottom of the clous de Paris textured dial.
Also tracing its roots back a few decades
– to the 1950s – IWC’s (iwc.com) Ingenieur
collection grew this year as the brand cased
the Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar Digital
Date-Month in lightweight yet robust grade
5 titanium, a sporty update from the 2017
version in gold. The brawny 45mm flyback
chronograph, limited to 100 pieces, features
double-digit month and date displays in the
sub-dials at 3 and 9 o’clock, and a leap year
aperture in the running seconds sub-dial at 6
o’clock. IWC also launched the Pilot’s Watch
Perpetual Calendar Chronograph, marking
the first time it combined a chronograph and
perpetual calendar in a pilot model.
Value is not a term one typically associates
with perpetual calendars. But a few brands
have managed to produce handsome,
more affordable watches within the genre
typically limited to horological connoisseurs.
Take MONTBLANC (montblanc.com), which
followed up on its 2014 Meisterstück
Heritage Perpetual Calendar with this year’s
Heritage Perpetual Calendar, limited to 100
pieces in rose gold and unlimited in steel.
The brand spent three years developing the
new manufacture automatic calibre MB
29.22, which replaces the typical lever-driven
construction with a more user-friendly
architecture using only wheels, allowing you
to set the calendar in both directions. It also
adds a dual-time function for travellers.
Meanwhile, BAUME & MERCIER (baumeet-mercier.com)
added a perpetual calendar
module to last year’s milestone Baumatic
line, featuring an exclusive state-of-theart
movement developed with Richemont
Group’s movement manufacturer Horlogère
ValFleurier. Like the Montblanc Heritage
Perpetual Calendar, the 42mm Clifton
Baumatic Perpetual Calendar is classical by
design and endowed with technical advances,
such as a silicon balance spring, magnetic
resistance, extended power reserve and more.
Taking the notion of value-driven
complications to extremes, FREDERIQUE
CONSTANT (frederiqueconstant.com) introduced
two new versions of its Perpetual Calendar
Tourbillon Manufacture, launched last
autumn to mark the brand’s 30th anniversary.
Available in stainless steel and rose gold, the
limited editions are priced at a fraction of
what you would expect for a pairing of two of
watchmaking’s most illustrious and technical
complications.
In our modern age, when smartphones
deliver the day, date and month at your
fingertips – as well as a whole lot more – a
mechanical perpetual calendar on the wrist
is inevitably an anachronism, but it is also a
demonstration of the wearer’s appreciation
for human ingenuity and craftsmanship. As
we digitise ever further, there is something
wonderful in this mechanical precision,
especially when it comes in such a beautiful
package, and without ever needing to charge
the battery.
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE WATCHMAKERS
52 NetJets

Park Crescent, Marylebone, London, UK.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Kay & Co
www.kayandco.com
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Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices LARVIA
www.bhhslarvia.es
Home, Casa, Haus.
Beautiful, in any
language.
BERLIN • DUBAI • LONDON
MADRID • MILAN
Maison Blanche, Berlin, Germany
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Information not verified or guaranteed. If your property is currently listed with a broker, this is not intended as a solicitation. Equal Housing Opportunity.

FALLING FOR PORTO
Bursting with youthful vigour, the Portuguese
city has become a destination with appeal
far beyond the grape
By Paul Richardson
54 NetJets

urban primer
View over the
city from the
Monumental Palace
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urban primer
Until quite recently, even as Lisbon
roared into the fast lane as a hip
global metropolis – the Berlin of
Southern Europe – its cousin to
the north, Porto, was still stuck in the slow
lane. Portugal’s second city was like one
of the fine old wines to which it lends its
name: pungent, slow-maturing and suitable
for enjoying in small, unhurried sips.
Riding the wave of Portugal’s new-found
fashionableness, however, the city on the
Douro has pulled off the trick of embracing
modernity, and hugely increased popularity,
while preserving much of its nostalgic
charm. Close observers could see the signs of
imminent change back in 2005, when Rem
Koolhaas’s thrillingly modernist, monolithic
CASA DA MÚSICA (casadamusica.com)
appeared on a downtown roundabout,
overcoming public suspicion to become a
much-loved cultural institution. But it’s
the last half-dozen years in which Porto
has moved into top gear. The decadent
and dilapidated Ribeira district has seen its
riverside tenements lovingly restored as part
of a massive sprucing-up operation. Foreign
investment has duly flooded in, along with
an influx of visitors that has both delighted
and alarmed local residents.
Beyond the old-town nucleus, once
unremarkable neighbourhoods are fizzing
Chef José Avillez in his
eponymous Cantinho
with life. Affluent Foz, the well-upholstered
residential district at the mouth of
the Douro estuary, is newly desirable
thanks to chic neighbourhood hangouts
CAFEÍNA (cafeina.pt), WISH (fb.com/
wishfoz) and TERRA (fb.com/terrafoz),
and the recently opened, art nouveaustyled
VILA FOZ HOTEL (vilafozhotel.
pt). In the past two decades Bombarda (as
the area around Rua Miguel Bombarda is
informally known) has become a full-on
contemporary art hub where the bimonthly
openings at galleries such as PRESENÇA
(galeriapresenca.pt), bring international
collectors flocking to this downtown
zone. But as tourism makes inroads into
the city, the Porto art scene has spilled
out of Bombarda into other, sometimes
edgier parts of town: worth the detour
are A CERTAIN LACK OF COHERENCE
(acertainlackofcoherence.blogspot.com), the
newly cutting-edge GALERIA MUNICIPAL
(galeriamunicipaldoporto.pt) and NUNO
CENTENO (nunocenteno.com), an avantgarde
art space housed in an old stonemason’s
yard on Rua da Alegria that won the 2018
Frieze New York Focus Prize.
Even Vila Nova de Gaia, where for
centuries the port houses have stored their
barrels in silent cellars, is not immune to
the city’s new wave of self-improvement.
PAULO BARATA, ALBERTO PLÁCIDO; ILLUSTRATION: JULIAN RENTZSCH; PREVIOUS SPREAD: © MAISON ALBAR HOTELS LE MONUMENTAL PALACE
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INSIDER KNOWLEDGE:
MAURA MARVAO
The representative for
Phillips auction house in
Portugal and Spain flits
between Madrid, London
New York and Brazil but
was born and raised –
and still has her home
– in Porto.
HOW DO YOU SEE
THE CITY’S RECENT
DEVELOPMENT?
Many things have changed
for the better. The city centre
was very decadent before,
and its recovery has been
very positive. Tourism and
foreign investment have
obviously helped. We need
to be a little bit careful with
tourism, and hopefully we
can learn from other cities’
mistakes. Good things in
excess become bad things!
DO YOU HAVE A
FAVOURITE CULTURAL
HOTSPOT IN THE CITY?
I love the Serralves
Foundation (serralves.pt),
a masterpiece by Porto’s
famous architect Álvaro
Siza. There’s a brand new
section inside the property,
the Casa do Cinema – it’s
focused on Portuguese
director Manoel de
Oliveira, but open to films
from all over the world.
The Quinta do Vallado
vineyard hotel in the
Douro Valley
AND A FAVOURITE CHILL-
OUT SPOT? The Parque da
Cidade in Foz, one of the
biggest city parks in Europe.
There are lakes, and it ends
at the seaside. It‘s perfect
for running, yoga, picnics.
Take your dog!
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Clockwise from top left:
the Álvaro Siza-designed
Casa de Chá da Boa
Nova; boutique hotel
Armazém’s lobby;
the Douro River winds its
way through the valley;
Vinum restaurant at
Graham’s winery
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urban primer
The newest places tick all
the boxes, from brunch
spots and cocktail bars to
clean-eating joints
© CASA DE CHÁ DA BOA NOVA, ANTÓNIO CHAVES, ANTÓNIO PEDROSA/4-SEE/LAIF, © VINUM RESTAURANT & WINE BAR
COCKBURN’S (cockburns.com) has opened
its new visitor centre in an historic lodge;
GRAHAM’S (grahams-port.com) now has an
excellent winery restaurant, Vinum; and the
upcoming World of Wine from TAYLOR’S
(taylor.pt), which commandeers a number
of historic warehouses for a wine-themed
culture centre along the lines of Bordeaux’s
Cité du Vin, may prove to be a game-changer
for this sleepy quartier.
If top-shelf hotels in Porto were once
thin on the ground, nowadays the visitor
seeking splendour is spoilt for choice.
A decade of openings has left a high
watermark in the PALÁCIO DE FREIXO
(pousadapalaciodofreixo.com), a fabulous
restoration of an 18th-century mansion on the
riverbank, the blueprint of which cunningly
factors in the early-industrial flour mill next
door; and THE YEATMAN (the-yeatman-hotel.
com), in the wine district of Gaia, a sumptuous
property that put oenological tourism firmly
on the city’s agenda. Smart townhouse hotels
and boutique boltholes have multiplied in
the last five years, notable examples being
TOREL AVANTGARDE (torelboutiques.com),
ARMAZÉM (armazemluxuryhousing.com)
and PESTANA PORTO – A BRASILEIRA
(pestanacollection.com), a new arrival from the
Pestana group incorporating the century-old
and now resplendent A Brasileira café. But
the bigger excitements, it has to be said, are
at the top end of things: Porto’s chattering
classes have been much exercised by the new
MONUMENTAL PALACE (maison-albar-hotelsle-monumental-palace.com)
on Avenida dos
Aliados – a formerly tatty 1920s Grand Hotel
whose Art Deco stylings have been stunningly
repointed by local design studio Oitoemponto.
Porto may be the HQ of a world-class
wine, but the city could never have been
described as a gastronomic hub. Until its
recent boom, the pleasures of the portuense
table were to be found mainly in the city’s
down-home repertoire of salt cod á Gomes de
Sá, octopus rice and the famous sandwichin-sauce
the francesinha, preferably devoured
in an old-fashioned cookhouse down by the
river. The newfound revolution in Porto
restaurants has changed all that. Chefs of
renown have disembarked in number, most
notably José Avillez, possessor of a selection
of locales in Lisbon, whose CANTINHO
DO AVILLEZ (cantinhodoavillez.pt) on Rua
Mouzinho da Silveira takes laid-back Iberian
snacking to new heights of deliciousness.
Elsewhere, Ricardo Costa holds one of
northern Portugal’s few Michelin stars at
The Yeatman and Rui Paula showcases
his fresh New Portuguese cooking at DOP
(doprestaurante.pt) and at the CASA DE CHÁ
DA BOA NOVA (casadechadaboanova.pt).
(The latter, a beachside tea house-cum-gastro
destination up the coast in Leça, is an early
masterpiece by genial Porto architect Álvaro
Siza and worth a visit for the building alone.)
Meanwhile, a new batch of talented younger
chefs is cooking up a storm at gastro-bistros O
PAPARICO (opaparico.com), BARTOLOMEU
(bartolomeu.com.pt), OFICINA (oficinaporto.
com) and MISTU (mistu.pt).
Apart from alta cozinha per se, the newest
Porto places tick all the boxes of international
urban fashion, from brunch spots and cocktail
bars to clean-eating joints – but the best of
the bunch are original and striking. Between
the Clérigos Tower and the riverside Ribeira,
it can seem that every other renovated, tile-
59 NetJets

VINTAGE VIEW:
RUPERT SYMINGTON
The CEO of Symington
Family Estates was born
in Porto and belongs to
an Anglo-Portuguese family
based in the Douro for
three centuries.
Art Nouveau stylings in the Vila Foz Hotel & Spa
IS PORTO A PLACE YOU’D
RECOMMEND EVEN IF IT
WEREN’T YOUR HOME?
Oh yes – in fact, I've been
recommending it to friends for
years. We have great transport
connections, a superb airport,
good broadband and relatively
inexpensive real estate. In the
last few years it’s been brilliant
to see how the crumbling ruins
downtown have been restored.
The work has been very
well planned, respecting the
area's 17th- and 18th-century
architecture. Another advantage
is that Porto is incredibly safe:
you can wander around at night
and have absolutely no trouble.
covered building now contains a funky venue
for grazing or raving. FLOW (flowrestaurant.
pt), MUNDO (fullest.pt), CANTINA 32
(cantina32.com) and TABERNA DOS
MERCADORES (fb.com/tabernamercadores)
are just a few of the downtown hangouts
currently cutting the mustard.
In a formerly conservative, introspective,
provincial town, the pace of all this change
can be a trifle dizzy-making. Witness
COLONIAL (fb.com/colonial.bystudio66),
open now at a seaside location in Foz. This
forward-thinking enterprise combines
elements of bar, restaurant and nightclub,
with a funky interior by local firm Studio
66, live music and – here’s the radical bit
– an entertainment policy that, according
to a spokesperson for the venue, is planned
to include “classic pole-dancing shows, not
in a burlesque style, but done rather in a
sophisticated and classy way”. Postmodern
pole-dancing in Porto? Proof, if it were
needed, that Portugal’s slow-lane city is
finally up to cruising speed.
SHARE A COUPLE OF INSIDER
TIPS WITH US. Happily! The
Flor do Gás ferry crosses the
river from Lordelo to the fishing
village of Afurada, on the south
side. It's a fun thing to do. You
can take your bike on board.
Then head for the port lodges in
Gaia. We have just reopened
the visitor centre at Cockburn's
– it's a fantastic old building,
and there's a barrel-making
workshop where you can watch
the coopers at work.
VALLEY HIGH
It might be argued, though it sounds like a paradox, that the soul of Porto lies not in the city itself but further inland in the Douro River valley. In this
dramatically beautiful region, where the vineyards are racked up in terraces on either side of the winding waterway, discerning travellers take their ease
at winery lodgings such as QUINTA DO VALLADO (quintadovallado.com) and QUINTA NOVA (quintanova.com), or wine and dine at Rui Paula’s
restaurant DOC (docrestaurante.pt) in its sleek modernist pavilion on the water’s edge. The SIX SENSES DOURO VALLEY (sixsenses.com), with its
superlative spa, has set the seal on the valley as a first-class destination worthy of comparison with Chianti, Burgundy and the Loire, blending top-end
hospitality with fine wines and glorious landscapes. For an up-close experience of the river and its surroundings, take a trip on the FRIENDSHIP I
(pipadouro.com), a 1957 British admiralty yacht moored in Pinhão. Exclusive cruises for up to eight people include lunch or dinner created by the chef
who has conquered the region – Rui Paula.
NICK BAYNTUN; ILLUSTRATION: JULIAN RENTZSCH
60 NetJets
Porto Airport to city centre: 9miles/15km

country bliss
ALENTEJO’S ALLURE
Portugal’s vast, bucolic and little-populated region makes a relaxing
rural escape from the buzzing cities of the west coast
PEITA BLYTHE
1 An in-the-know destination
for seekers after unspoiled and
undeveloped coastal landscapes,
Comporta has been a destination
for a few years now. The hippest
places to stay hitherto have been
Sublime Comporta and Casas
na Areia, but architect Miguel
Câncio Martins’s brand new
QUINTA DA COMPORTA has
raised the bar, upcyling the area’s
rustic reed-and-thatch architecture
of an ancient rice barn into a
masterpiece of rustic minimalism.
quintadacomporta.com
2 A 26-suite contemporary
hotel among the vines, with
views across a lake towards the
medieval castle of Montemoro-Novo,
L’AND VINEYARDS
seamlessly combines wine and
landscape, modernity and
alentejano heritage. Ten rooms
have retractable roofs, for nights
under a star-scape of astonishing
clarity. l-and.com
3 Not much doubt about
Alentejo’s top cultural day-trip:
it would have to be ÉVORA.
This stupendous granite-andwhitewash
city is a Unesco World
Heritage site whose gloriously
gloomy Gothic cathedral and
Roman temple of Diana are
only the most obvious of a
slew of historic gems. At the
M’AR DE AR AQUEDUTO,
contemporary luxe sits prettily in
a 15th-century palace hard by
the town’s medieval battlements.
mardearhotels.com
4 José António Uva left his
London banking job to restore
a country estate near Monsaraz
that had been in his family for
two centuries. Starchitect Eduardo
Souto de Moura was drafted in to
help create SÃO LOURENÇO
DO BARROCAL’s gorgeous
mélange of rustic simplicity and
minimal chic. The result is a barraiser
for Alentejo. barrocal.pt
5/7 Wine tourism is a growing
trend in Alentejo. If HERDADE
DO ESPORÃO, a 1,800ha
estate dating from 1267, is the
region’s enoturismo pioneer (its inhouse
restaurant helmed by Carlos
Teixeira being among the region’s
finest), a more recent tendency
involves mixing wine with art.
QUINTA DO QUETZAL’s
cutting-edge contemporary winery,
owned by Dutch art collectors
Cees and Inge de Bruin, boasts a
450 sq m exhibition space and a
cool modern restaurant. wesporao.
com, quintadoquetzal.com
6 Straddling the Spanish/
Portuguese border over 25,000
hectares, the ALQUEVA
RESERVOIR is Europe’s largest
artificial lake. Sailing, kayaking
and waterskiing can all be
practised here – head for the
marina at AMIEIRA, while a gentle
cruise gets you up close and
personal with the lake’s wildlife and
natural beauty. amieiramarina.com
8 An historic property and now
a country-house lodging,
HERDADE DO TOURIL stands
within sight and smell of the
Atlantic Ocean. A collection of
low-rise whitewashed buildings
picked out in blue in the purest
Alentejo style, the house is still
run in hands-on fashion by
Luis Leote Falcão, a scion of
the Herdade’s original owners.
herdadedotouril.com
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consuming passion
A SLOVENIAN STORY
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Far from the madding crowds,
Ana Roš has built an unlikely
culinary destination that celebrates
the bounty of the Julian Alps
By Bill Knott
BENJAMIN SCHMUCK
D
rive into the small town of Kobarid,
western Slovenia, and – depending
on the time of year – you might
spot the occasional winter sports
enthusiast, mountain biker or cliff diver, while
the picturesque, emerald-green Soča River,
which flows down from the spectacular Julian
Alps, is the babbling playground for whitewater
rafters and canoeists.
The town has historically been kicked
back and forth between Italy, Austria-
Hungary and the former Yugoslavia, and
during the First World War, it was almost
completely destroyed. These days it is
thoroughly at peace, a remote community
that prides itself on its self-sufficiency.
Ana Roš is very much part of that
community. She is also responsible for a new
breed of visitors to the Soča Valley: gourmets
making the pilgrimage to Hiša Franko, the
restaurant where she cooks and her husband
Valter is sommelier and cellarmaster. It is
also the family home: they have two children,
and Valter’s parents live there, too, making it
three generations under the same roof. And
it is, according to the annual San Pellegrino
World’s 50 Best awards, the 38th best
restaurant in the world.
Her ascent to global fame has been
extraordinary. A talented skier who was picked
for the Yugoslavian youth team, she turned
down the chance to become a professional in
favour of a degree in international relations
and a career in diplomacy.
Then, in 2002, she changed tack
completely. With little experience of cuisine
beyond “cooking bowls of pasta at five in the
morning when I was a student”, Ana took
over Valter’s parents’ old-style Slovenian
restaurant at Hiša Franko, “found what few
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consuming passion
cookbooks I could in the library” and started
creating a kind of new-wave Slovenian
cuisine, starring beautifully plated dishes that
showcased fiercely local ingredients.
Not everything went to plan: her sudden
career change had gone down badly with
her parents: “They were dark times. My
relationship with them was very difficult
– and I made mistakes, unfortunately for
the guests!” But her perseverance paid
off, and the diplomatic service’s loss was
gastronomy’s gain.
Her cookery attracted the interest of
Italian food writers; Roš credits Anna Morelli
in particular: “She came through the door
when nobody knew us and told everyone. I’ll
always be grateful.” Invitations to top-drawer
culinary events started to land on Hiša
Franko’s doormat, and her rise to the top was
confirmed when the producers of Netflix’s
Chef ’s Table came calling: a 2016 episode
starred Roš, her restaurant and – not least –
the stunning scenery in which she lives and
works. Overnight, the hits on Hiša Franko’s
website went from 200 a day to 10,000, and
the business’s financial stability was assured.
Roš gives much of the credit for her
success to this unique landscape. Now in her
mid-40s, she keeps in shape with a daily run.
“When I’m on top of the mountain I can see
the lagoons, rivers, meadows, forests, gardens
and villages: every plate I create has at least
one element from this environment.
“I know farm-to-table is very trendy now,
but sometimes it’s just rubbish, like the
Russian place I went to that had a sea urchin
from the Faroe Islands on the menu.”
Roš’s sense of place is very precise. “We
are mountain people. Winters are harsh, so
you need to preserve food to survive them:
salting, curing, pickling, fermenting. We have
a little house in Istria – south of here, near the
Adriatic – and it’s still 20˚C even in February,
so you can garden all year round and there’s
no need to preserve food: the locals would
think you were stupid!
“Of course, nowadays we realise how
healthy and flavoursome fermented foods
are, but originally it was simply a means
of survival. Slovenia is a completely rural
country, and everyone has a garden to grow
their own food, even in Ljubljana. We have
four gardens at Hiša Franko: they weren’t my
idea, they were already here.”
Her style of cooking sprang from necessity,
too. “There weren’t really any suppliers
when we started – it’s so remote here – so
I had to forge relationships with farmers
and producers.” She is especially proud of
”We are mountain people. Winters
are harsh, so you need to preserve food:
salting, curing, pickling, fermenting”
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Roš and staff are a
study in concentration
as they prepare
another superlative dish
Facing page: inside
the intimate dining room
of Hiša Franko
her role in helping to secure the future of
the endangered marble trout, a fish that
features heavily on her menus, perhaps with
green peas and blackcurrants, served with a
sauce made from the trout’s fermented liver,
or with reduced whey (leftovers from the
cheese they make at Hiša Franko), puffed
buckwheat, scented geranium and mint. Her
“breakthrough” dish, created in 2006, was
a raviolo filled with liquid potato in trout
broth, with steamed trout and trout eggs.
Damming of rivers and the introduction
of brown trout to the Soča River had almost
wiped out the indigenous marble trout. “It’s a
beautiful story, a species that almost became
extinct, revived by dedicated local people. In
a way, it’s my story, too.”
She sounds a note of caution, however.
“There’s a place about 40km from here where
they grow rosa di Gorizia, a special kind of
radicchio that costs €35 a kilo or even more.
It takes almost two years to produce, and
there are only a few growers left, either side
of the Italian border.
“I talked to one of the older growers when
I was researching my book [Sun and Rain, to
be released later this year by Phaidon] and
he said, ‘I know lots of people want it, but I
think it won’t survive in time. Your generation
doesn’t have the patience to wait.’ ”
She is acutely aware that the homely
setting of Hiša Franko may not be quite
what her clientele expects. “Someone who
travels 8,000 kilometres to dine with us
shouldn’t expect it to be the same as a meal
in Barcelona or Paris. We don’t serve lobster,
caviar or foie gras, not because I don’t like
them – I could eat a kilo of foie gras just
with a piece of bread – but because they
don’t tell the story of the restaurant and
its location. And, for me, food is all about
storytelling.” hisafranko.com
SUZAN GABRIJAN, BENJAMIN SCHMUCK
Trieste Airport: 36miles/58km
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tasting notes
IN PRAISE OF
PROVENANCE
Once upon a time, the Cheval Blanc
winery put Saint-Émilion on the map,
and it continues to beguile with some
of Bordeaux’s best vintages
By Rob Crossan
W
hen oenophiles think
of Cheval Blanc, they
invariably think of a
certain year. For this
is the august château responsible for none
other than the ’47, the almost mythical wine
considered to be the greatest bordeaux ever
made – its voluptuous richness created by
an entirely accidental combination of highly
volatile acidity and residual sugar levels that
would, by today’s standards, be considered a
faulty batch.
“Whatever the fashions and times, it
has always been considered an exceptional
wine,” says Pierre-Olivier Clouet, Technical
Director at Cheval Blanc. “It has an
absolutely incredible ageing potential,” he
continues by way of explaining the winery’s
outsized reputation. “Whatever the season
of Cheval Blanc, young, old or very old, the
wine is remarkable.”
Dating back to the 1830s, Cheval Blanc’s
uniqueness lies in the fact that its location, in
the Saint-Émilion appellation on the right
banks of the Gironde estuary, is actually
prime merlot territory. The unusually high
amount (49%) of cabernet franc is part of
what makes Cheval Blanc such a truly
distinctive wine. NetJets Owners got a taste
of just how distinctive it now is at a recent
special event held at the château.
Long considered to be little more than a
backwater for vin de table, Saint-Émilion’s
reputation was singlehandedly transformed
by Cheval Blanc during the 19th and early
20th century. The winery put the region on
the map when it won a gold award at the Paris
World Fair in 1878, and, then almost half a
century later, its 1921 vintage created, for the
first time, a truly international demand.
The dizzying upward trajectory from
local obscurity to global adulation was set in
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STUDIO ERICK SAILLET
motion by Jean Laussac-Fourcaud. The sonin-law
of the Ducasse family, who owned
the vineyard, he took over the unloved
terrain in 1852, draining and renovating the
land and adding the château building that
still stands today.
Now one of only four châteaux at the
Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé
“A” level in the local appellation system, the
Cheval Blanc we savour today is down to
the work of the LVMH chairman Bernard
Arnault and the late Belgian billionaire
Albert Frère, who together acquired the
vineyard in the late 1990s.
Architect Christian de Portzamparc
designed a new cellar, and 2011 saw the first
vintage made in it, equipped with 52 concrete
vats to ferment every single plot of the estate.
When it comes to future plans, however,
Clouet insists that the relentless march of
progress isn’t a beat that suits this part of
Bordeaux. “There is no big project or change
that would make Cheval Blanc something
that will be completely different tomorrow,”
he says. “Our work is a work of preservation,
continuity and improvement in a framework
that is always the same.”
The modern world may have made a small
mark on the ancient estate, as Clouet admits
in relation to the cellar, but he insists the
pleasure of a glass of Cheval Blanc is all but
timeless. “There are 1,000 ways to enjoy it,”
he laughs. “For me, the best way to see Cheval
Blanc is to be at the heart of the estate, at
the end of the summer, in September when
the grapes are ripe, with all the vineyards
around you and to drink a Cheval Blanc glass
at Cheval Blanc – there is no better place.”
And it is from this noble terroir where many
more significant vintages, perhaps even those
to eclipse the ’47, are sure to be produced.
chateau-cheval-blanc.com
Christian de
Portzamparc’s modern
design for the Cheval
Blanc winery
Bordeaux Airport: 32miles/52km
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VIRTUALLY THERE
Stepping into the unknown, the art world is
embracing virtual reality without being quite sure
how – or whether – it will be collectible
By Brian Noone
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
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artscape
XXXXXXXXXXXXX STILLS FROM MONA LISA BEYOND THE GLASS, COURTESY EMISSIVE AND HTC VIVE ARTS
E
urope’s most notable exhibition this
year showcases Leonardo da Vinci
at the Louvre, and, perhaps fittingly,
one of the key displays will feature
a device that Leonardo himself might have
dreamed up: a virtual reality headset.
Viewers will be able to explore the
Mona Lisa in extraordinary detail in the
VR experience – benefiting from digital
enhancement to get much closer than the
usual swarming crowds allow, and also
discovering the latest research findings as
well as novel perspectives (viewers can,
among other things, see the reverse side of
the painting) to make a truly new experience
of the world’s best-known work of art.
The Louvre is one of the more conservative
institutions in one of Europe’s most techphobic
countries, so its inaugural foray into
VR is a clear sign, if any were needed, that
VR is here to stay, at least in the art world.
Five years ago, the future of VR wasn’t so
obvious. Like the driverless car, prototypes
existed and there was a vague promise of
future ubiquity. But now, unlike autonomous
vehicles, which are mired in regulatory red tape
and programming details, VR has fulfilled its
promise and sits comfortably across a range
of industries. Architects – and their clients
– have fallen head over heels for the ability
to explore a full building to scale before
the plans are signed off, and elsewhere it is
proving especially popular as a teaching tool:
trainee surgeons in England who learn with
VR outperform their 2D-educated peers, and
businesses are increasingly commissioning
bespoke training programmes using VR
following the theory that immersive learning
is both more effective and more efficient.
The immersive quality of VR is also a
powerful draw for creative types as well, who
see the potential to unlock a new level of
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artscape
Daniel Birnbaum, who has
taken the creative reins at
VR pioneer Acute Art
Facing page, from top: a
still from Anish Kapoor’s
VR work Into Yourself, Fall,
2018; a starry sky in Olafur
Eliasson’s Rainbow, 2017
Previous page: Mona Lisa:
Beyond the Glass, a VR
installation at the Louvre for
the museum’s Leonardo da
Vinci exhibition
engagement with their audience. Last month,
Icelandic singer Björk released Vulnicura VR,
a visual reinterpretation of her 2015 album
of the same name that transfers the private
connection between artist and individual
from headphones to headset. “The whole
process has been an improvisation, trying
to keep faith in formats,” she wrote in a
statement, explaining that she wanted to “try
to have courage to grow along with how 360
sound and vision tech was growing”.
Cinema has always been primarily a visual
medium, so its adoption of VR has been relatively
straightforward – and rapid. In 2017, for
instance, director Alejandro González Iñárritu
received a Special Achievement Award Oscar,
the first ever given to a VR film, for his Carne
y Arena, which dramatised the border-crossing
journey from Mexico to the US. The Venice
Film Festival – always a bit more adventurous –
has hosted an annual VR section of the festival
on an abandoned island, Lazzaretto Vecchio, for
the last three years. This year’s event included
more than three dozen films, some interactive,
others merely immersive.
French director Céline Tricart, whose
interactive 20-minute film The Key, also about
migrants, won the overall VR competition
this year, sums up the appeal of the medium
for directors: “I believe VR is a first-person
medium. We bring a lot of ourselves in with
us: our identity, our thoughts, our emotions. It’s
story-living, instead of storytelling.”
The ability to elicit deep empathy makes
VR an especially appealing proposition for
artists. At the very least, it’s a way to get
viewers to give their full attention to works
for minutes on end – a rarity at art museums
and galleries.
But for artists like American Michael
Takeo Magruder, VR is more than just a way
to capture attention; it is a medium that is well
suited to his subjects, which include media,
data and digital archives. “I think of myself
as a visual artist who happens to use digital
technologies,” he says, and indeed his latest
project, Imaginary Cities, synthesises the realtime
actions of visitors with historical maps of
New York City to generate a new experience
for each visitor – a conceptual roundness that
makes use of VR’s unique properties in a way
most other mediums could not.
Magruder’s piece was first exhibited at the
British Library in London this spring and is
currently on display at Gazelli Art House, a
private gallery, as part of its exhibition Enter
Through the Headset 4, a shortlist of the latest
VR art works on the market. Although already
in their fourth year, Gazelli Art House CEO
and Founding Director Mila Askarova is
conscious that her annual VR exhibitions are
just a beginning: “We hope with these shows
we will continue building on a market for VR
works,” she says.
There is indeed a growing market, with
pieces selling from a few thousand euros
up to over €100,000, but VR art’s tenuous
relationship with the market is where it
diverges most from more traditional mediums.
Big-name artists like Marina Abramovic,
Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson and Antony
Gormley have recently produced works that
are freely accessible, not only at exhibitions but
also online and in apps, so that anyone with a
VR headset (or cardboard smartphone holder)
can view the works for themselves.
There is something almost revolutionary
about this, and the man leading the
democratic charge is Daniel Birnbaum, a
longtime radical who shocked the art world
last January when he left his eminent position
directing the Moderna Museet in Stockholm
to take the creative reins at London-based
Acute Art, where most of the boldface names
are producing their VR works. He has taken a
serious gamble on VR as an art form, but he
holds a remarkably long view of its potential:
“There are some who say you could view art
as a sort of service, not something you own
or keep for yourself, but something you have
JOHN SCARISBRICK
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COURTESY ACUTE ART
access to – a little bit like Spotify or Netflix,”
he says with a smile. “On the other hand,
I’m not so sure. It’s a potential. There is
something wrong if VR art is only collected
like traditional art. There is potential for it to
be distributed much more widely than that,
so you don’t have to go to the Frieze Art Fair
or to a big museum in Paris. You could be in a
little suburb of Zagreb and see the exact same
things. There is a sort of quasi-utopian aspect
of this – that it could be everywhere – but I
think it will take a while.”
Birnbaum notes that some artists have
shied away from the medium, not wanting to
isolate the viewers so much, but even among
those who have embraced it he sees a glimpse
of that utopian spirit: “The people who want
to try it are there because they are curious, not
because they want to grow their audiences or
make money.”
It’s unusual in our age to see so much talk
about art without foregrounding finance,
which is why VR is so confounding – it is
both democratic and cutting-edge, a pairing
that has become exceptionally rare.
But there is one place where this pairing
is perfectly at home: museums, which often
have the same twin values. Even the Louvre,
staid as it is, will offer the Mona Lisa VR
experience to people not able to come to Paris
during the exhibition on Viveport, the digital
subscription service from HTC, the firm that
makes the Vive headset.
“Allowing visitors who may not be able
to visit the exhibition in person to access
this remarkable masterpiece by Leonardo
da Vinci through our home version will give
unprecedented access to da Vinci’s most
celebrated painting,” says Victoria Chang,
Director of Vive Arts at HTC.
Chang’s pride in the democratisation of
the world’s most valuable painting is a far
cry from the price-centric discussions of that
other Leonardo masterwork, the Salvator
Mundi, which sold for $450.3m in 2017. It
might well be that in a few decades we will
look back and see that VR’s biggest effect on
the art world will not have been as a medium
for artists, but as a means for making our
artistic masterpieces more accessible to
viewers across the globe.
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ich mix
CLUB CORNER
An exceptional humidor, three fl avoursome tomes
and a selection of refi ned bottlings
By Farhad Heydari
THE FINER THINGS
Italian firm DeART, maker of renowned humidors, has reached new levels of excellence with its bespoke limited
edition creation for Hunters & Frankau HOUSE RESERVE SERIES 1790 collection. Named after the year in
which the London cigar importer was founded, it contains rare cigars taken from its reserve of Habanos UK
Regional Editions ranging from 2005 through to its most recent release in 2017. Eight different brands feature
among the 170 cigars kept in ideal condition by the high-tech humidification system. cigars.co.uk
A TOUCH OF CLASS IN A GLASS
Characters, custom and a certain way of life are captured
in 70 concoctions for THE OFFICIAL DOWNTON ABBEY
COCKTAIL BOOK, inspired by the classic UK TV series-cummovie;
quartoknows.com. In SCHOFIELD’S FINE AND
CLASSIC COCKTAILS, two brothers, Joe and Daniel, reveal
the secrets of their bartending from The Savoy to Singapore;
kylebooks.co.uk. Ian Wisniewski’s THE WHISKY DICTIONARY
blends history, ingredients, distilling techniques and more on
whiskies around the world; octopusbooks.co.uk.
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SPIRITS OF THE AGE
The latest palate-pleasing elixirs from distilleries of distinction
COURTESY OF THE VENDORS
Top row: BRORA 40-YEAR-OLD 200TH ANNIVERSARY Limited edition of a 1978 single malt from the soon-to-reopen ghost distillery; diageo.com. WHISTLEPIG
10 YEAR STRAIGHT RYE The Vermont-based rye whiskey maker’s pride and joy is aged in new American oak with a bourbon-barrel finish; whistlepigwhiskey.com.
TALISKER BODEGA SERIES – 41-YEAR-OLD The Skye distillery continues its experimentation with sherry casks with a wonderful mix of sweet and smoky tastes;
diageo.com. THE ISLE OF JURA TIDE & TIME Two 21-year-old single malts celebrate their home island having been aged in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels;
jurawhisky.com. REFUGEES RUM Concocted by Bosnian-born, Lisbon-based chef Ljubomir Stanisic, this Portuguese rum has origins in Ancient Persia; 100maneiras.com.
WHISKY ILLUMINATI SOLARIA SERIES The three-part bottling from five Speyside distilleries will be released over the next four years, and includes the mysterious
“Artis Secretum”; whiskyilluminati.com. SAUTTER BLENDED MALT SCOTCH An intriguing release from the cigar company is made with component whiskies that
span four decades; sauttercigars.com. Bottom row: GLEN MORAY DISTILLERY 21-YEAR-OLD PORTWOOD FINISH The latest addition to the Elgin Heritage
Collection is a port-finished single malt that combines spicy sweetness with rich wine flavours; glenmoray.com. GORDON & MACPHAIL CONNOISSEURS
CHOICE GLEN SPEY 1995 Among the new batch of releases from the famed bottling company is a refined 22-year-old single malt from the Rothes-based distillery;
gordonandmacphail.com. JOHNNIE WALKER THE JOHN WALKER LAST CASK The iconic whisky has one final outing in a hand-blown Baccarat crystal decanter;
johnniewalker.com. LITTLEMILL 29 YEAR OLD Littlemill’s Private Cellar collection has produced one last bottling using liquid selected from some of the last remaining
casks to be laid down at the distillery; littlemilldistillery.com. CROWN ROYAL NOBLE COLLECTION FRENCH OAK CASK FINISHED The fourth edition in the
series has a subtle flavour thanks in part to wood sourced from the forests of the Vosges; crownroyal.com. THE SECRET SPEYSIDE COLLECTION Four seldom-seen but
much sought-after distilleries are represented in the Chivas Brothers’ new selection including the entirely vanished Caperdonich; chivasbrothers.com. GLENFIDDICH
RARE COLLECTION 44 YEAR OLD Bottled in 2017 to mark the 70th anniversary of Velier, this exceptionally rare spirit is a true collector’s item; glenfiddich.com
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inside view
TEXAS’S
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ART PARADISE
A photographic journey through Marfa,
where imposing desert landscapes are a perfect
match for compelling contemporary art
Photography by Florian Holzherr
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inside view
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inside view
78 NetJets

THE TOWN THAT JUDD BUILT
If you were searching for nowhere, you would end up within
spitting distance of Marfa, Texas. More than six hours‘ drive
from anything resembling a city, this former military outpost in the
wilds of the American Southwest began its transformation into
an art mecca in the 1970s when Donald Judd moved here from
New York. In the empty expanses of Marfa’s rugged terrain, the
minimalist artist found a landscape that suited his work – as well
as that of friends and peers like Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain,
Richard Long and Claes Oldenburg. Judd purchased much of the
former military infrastructure and used it to establish, among other
things, THE CHINATI FOUNDATION (chinati.org), an art museum
that brought the Texas backwater to national prominence. More
recently, the far-flung village (population c 1,981) has become
a must-visit destination for the global art cognoscenti, complete with
multiple museums, a burgeoning culinary scene and a decent
hotel or two. But the focus remains on the experience of the art, just
as Judd intended. At such an exceptional remove from the concerns
of daily life, you can’t help but spend hours wandering between
the sculptures that are sutured into the harsh desert or exploring the
cavernous spaces that house everything from contemporary
masterpieces to Rembrandt etchings. It’s a place entirely out of time
– and one perfectly of our time as well.
Opening page: Donald Judd’s 15 untitled works in concrete, 1980-1984, were the first pieces to be installed at the
Chinati Foundation
Previous page: Things That Happen Again: For a Here and a There, 1986-1991, an installation of two copper cones
by Roni Horn
Facing page: Untitled (dawn to dusk), 2016, is artist Robert Irwin’s only permanent, freestanding structure, set in an
abandoned army hospital
Following page: The Architecture Studio in Marfa has repurposed the former Marfa National Bank and houses a range
of works highlighted by 20th-century masters such as Josef Albers and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
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inside view
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in conversation with
TRAVEL
Sun-worshipper or thrill-seeker?
For holidays I love being anywhere
that is sunny and close to a beach!
One of my favourite places to visit
is the San Diego area. I have so
many great memories growing up
and learning to ride there – it will
always hold a special place
in my heart.
GOURMET
Top names or hidden gems?
Before a trip, I like to reach out to
friends who have been to the area
and get their recommendations
on local cuisine. I prefer to eat at
places that showcase local food
and culture – I definitely prefer
somewhere casual with good
friends or family.
ARCHITECTURE
Classical or modern?
I find architecture fascinating, and
greatly appreciate the rich history
behind many of Europe’s big
cities. While I love learning about
the classical aspects of each
place I visit, I also enjoy the newer
buildings and urban landscapes in
areas such as the UAE or China.
It is very interesting to see how
more recent technical innovations
and trends contribute to design in
some of these cities.
JENNIFER GATES
The Paris Panthers rider on life
away from the world of equestrianism
ENTERTAINMENT
Good book or big screen?
I always prefer to pick up a good
book. One of my favourite things
about being on the go is the time
I get to spend reading on flights.
It is a way for me to decompress
and connect with a story or learn
about a new subject. This is
one thing I always look forward
to during my time in transit.
FUTURE PLANS
Full-time rider or broader horizons?
Horses and riding will always
be a big part of my life, but I
am excited to be back in school
and to embark on the path of
becoming a physician.
ILLUSTRATION: JULIAN RENTZSCH FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY @GEORGEKAMPER FOR @EQLIVING
82 NetJets

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