Western Living Magazine
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Drafting up a solution to a complex problem.
Let’s face it€”architects are the hardest profession to buy for. Lawyers? Whisky and gin and more whisky. Doctors? Accountant? Clergy? See, Lawyers. But architects are so darn particular. Not only do they still use mechanical pencils, it has to be the perfect mechanical pencil. White shirts? They love them. As long as it’s the right white shirt.
So for the prospect of picking out a perfect bottle for an architect is daunting€”but I’ve found two choices that makes it a bit less so.
This is the mash-up of our dreams. On the one hand you have Martin’s Lane, simply put one of the finest purveyors of Pinot Noir and Riesling in the New World (bold, but true statement). On the other, Tom Kundig, the great Architect of the Pacific Northwest, long-time judge of our Designer’s of the Year competition and creator of the coolest structure on Salt Spring. Kundig also notably designed the Martin’s Lane winery (more gushing here). So it seems inspired to pair 3 single vineyards Pinot’s from the 2015 vintage with the new monograph celebrating Kundig’s work. $400.
Gehry’s still sort of an honorary Canadian, right? The famed Cognac house tapped the boundless octogenarian to re-imagine their legendary XO. The result? “A great synthesis of Frank Gehry's inspirations: the Charente river movement, the force of the nature and the richness of the Hennessy X.O blend. The golden carafe embodies Frank Gehry's main theme in art: the reflection of light. The box also reveals the carafe's iconic silhouette by transparency,” so says Hennessy. What we’ll say is that Gehry’s energy and continued vision amazes us and what’s more, if you haven’t had a belt of XO in while, my Lord, you’re missing one of life’s true pleasures€”something we know architects are all for. $325.
Neal McLennan is the wine and spirits editor for Vancouver and Western Living magazines, where he susses out the wonderful (and occasionally weird) options for imbibing across Western Canada.
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