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This leafy address brings a renewed sense of ritual to one of London’s most storied streets. This leafy address brings a renewed sense of ritual to one of London’s most storied streets.

The Crouch Valley in Essex is emerging as England’s answer to Burgundy, producing world-class still wines. Alice Lascelles explains why. 

And its potential for producing great still wines, too, is now being realized. One high-profile investor from overseas has been California’s Jackson Family Wines (JFW), maker of Kendall-Jackson and owner of more than 40 wineries round the world, which began quietly planting vines in Essex in the east of England, in 2024. 

The area they homed in on was the Crouch Valley, an expansive landscape of marshland and arable fields, that’s now establishing itself as the epicentre of the English still wine scene.  

Blessed with one of the warmest and driest micro-climates in the country, and fertile clay soils, the Crouch, as it’s known, is particularly suited to ripening Burgundy’s hallmark grapes chardonnay and pinot noir. My Financial Times colleague, Jancis Robinson, has dubbed it the ‘English Côte d’Or’, and fruit grown here is now some of the most expensive in the country. 

See also: Interesting Wines To Order At Dinner, According To Sommeliers

JFW’s own Crouch Valley project, Marbury, unveiled its first still pinot noir this week (the fruit comes from neighboring vineyards as its own vines are not yet fully-established).  

Marbury Crouch Valley Pinot Noir 2024 (£45, (approx. $61) is a light garnet wine very much in the fresh, cool-climate style. It has a gorgeous perfume – mulberry, violet, cherry grounded by a little wet earth. The tannin is velvety but there’s still lots of tension, reflecting what was a rather cool and wet year.  

Also coming soon is 2024 Marbury Crouch Hill Chardonnay, which marries fine white almond and lemon notes, with subtle, biscuity oak and an appetizing, saline finish. The riper, more stone-fruity 2023 (2023 was a much kinder year) is already on the market (£40, (approx. $54). 

“The next big frontier for English wine is still wine, and chardonnay and pinot in particular,” says Marbury’s winemaker Charlie Holland. “That fresh, vibrant style that England specializes in is what people are wanting to drink right now. The opportunity we have is huge.” 

Holland was previously head winemaker at Gusbourne in Kent, just to the south, which produces outstanding sparkling wine, and which was also one of the first to prove that really classy still English wines were possible. Doing good still wines every year, though, was difficult, says Holland – the combination of terrain and climate was just too marginal. And then, about 10 years ago, he started noticing the quality and consistency coming out of the Crouch Valley, even in tougher vintages.  

See also: Do You Need an AI Wine Cellar?

“The Crouch gives you about two weeks extra of hang time [for ripening] and that’s quite unique,” he says. “And the clay has magical properties: it holds onto water when you need it at the beginning of the season and then coming into the back end of season [it hardens] and creates an impermeable layer. The water isn’t taken up by the roots so you don’t get the grapes splitting and getting diseased.” 

The Marbury style is all about “freshness and vibrancy,” says Holland. “We don’t want to make hugely oaky, extracted, big styles of wine. Partly because I don’t think it suits the grapes we’ve got but also because it would be kind of missing the point. Think of the fruit we grow here in England: raspberries and strawberries, which have all that great acidity. That’s what we do really well in this country: really perfumed, pretty, aromatically interesting wines.”  

To amplify this, Holland recommends drinking Marbury pinot noir on the cool side. “Or you lose the prettiness – if it’s slightly chilled you get a bit more texture and viscosity and it’s a lot fresher. Put it in an ice bucket and then take it out 10 minutes before you serve it.” 

Next year, JFW will launch a separate sparkling wine brand, made from grapes grown in different terroirs around the east and south-east of England. “Marbury is very much about typicity of the local area, whereas our sparkling will be more in the Champagne model, which involves picking all the best bits from different areas and creating a blend,” says Holland.  

Some of the fruit will come from chalky South Downs in West Sussex, where JFW has now also planted vines. “We’ll also have some fruit from the Weald on clay, stuff on the North Downs which is warmer chalk – cool chalk gives you vibrant backbone structure, while warm chalk gives you something a bit more ripe and rounded and fruity, like ripe lemon,” says Holland. “There will also be a bit of fruit from the Crouch Valley, for extra body and weight and texture. And vines grown on green sand which contributes really well to the blend in terms of that core of fruit you get from it. It’s about layering it all up.»  

See also: Why Runners Are Falling in Love with Wine, Beer, and Whisky Regions

The brand will debut with a multi-vintage classic cuvée, in both blanc and rosé. “There will also be a vintage blanc de blancs and a blanc de noirs. Way down the line we also have prestige cuvée planned but we’re still a million miles away from that.” 

JFW doesn’t currently have its own winery in England – all the wines are made at Defined Wines, a contract winery in neighboring Suffolk. And any discussion of a physical home for their wines are “at least three or four years off,” says Holland. “For now, we’re taking it slow.” 

Other Essex wineries to know

Danbury Ridge

What started as a retirement project for a local investment banker, has become one of England’s top producers of still wine. The pinot noir is particularly lovely, with a concentration and elegance that’s still quite rare in English reds. A collaboration with Domaine Duroché of Gevrey-Chambertin will be released in 2028.  

Blackbook Winery

This rock-and-roll urban winery is based in south London, but they use a lot of Essex fruit. The style is low-intervention and characterful, with lots of short-run cuvées that range in style from skin contact and trad method sparkling to more classic rosés. The labels, which pay homage to London’s heritage, are very cool, too.  

An instrument cluster software issue has impacted some 60 models built between September 2022 and February 2026. An instrument cluster software issue has impacted some 60 models built between September 2022 and February 2026.

The former Safeway and MLB executive used the idyllic 20-acre estate in St. Helena as a weekend getaway from his primary residence in San Francisco. The former Safeway and MLB executive used the idyllic 20-acre estate in St. Helena as a weekend getaway from his primary residence in San Francisco.

Last minute shoppers with moms who like whiskey, take note. Last minute shoppers with moms who like whiskey, take note.

Tod’s looks to the Kennedys – and their enduring mythology of effortless style – for its Marlin project. 

Every few years, the culture machine dusts them off and presents them back to us as shorthand for a particular kind of aspirational living. Earlier this year, Ryan Murphy’s Love Story revived the romance – and mythology – of John F Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and now, another unlikely player has entered the conversation: Tod’s.

It’s Marlin project – a summer collection for both men and women – draws inspiration from the boat once owned by John F Kennedy (and later acquired by the Italian brand’s owner Diego Della Valle in 1998). It was designed by naval architect Walter McInnis, and was a mode of transport that became integral to JFK’s life (he apparently took presidential meetings with his cabinet from it while sailing with his wife, First Lady Jackie). Tod’s collection arrives just as fashion has rediscovered its appetite for the elegance the Kennedy family came to represent.

See also: 8 Rollnecks That Capture Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s New York Elegance

That understated sensibility runs through the entire collection, which leans into a very particular vision of leisure that combines New England with Italy. It’s very much a Hyannis Port over Monaco, sailing clubs over superyachts kind of energy. Its palette – creams and maritime greens lifted directly from the original vessel – are colors designed to age gracefully rather than chase trend cycles.

And unlike many brands currently strip-mining heritage for content, the Tod’s ready-to-wear line shows admirable restraint. There are, pleasingly, no obvious archival gimmicks in sight. The standout Marlin Bomber, for example, comes in technical cotton trimmed with nappa leather, with a sailor’s knot subtly attached to the zipper. The updated Marlin loafer – an evolution of the house’s signature Gommino – carries enough nautical coding to evoke a boat deck without veering into costume.

Nautical dressing is one of fashion’s few permanent genres, but what makes the collection feel especially timely is the industry’s broader return to understatement. The renewed obsession with Bessette-Kennedy – whose effortless wardrobe still circulates online today – speaks to a growing appetite for clothes that communicate taste rather than trend.

The irony, of course, is that ‘effortless’ style is usually the result of immense effort, good tailoring, and considerable money. But the Kennedy myth has always relied on hiding the machinery. And few collections currently package that illusion better than Marlin.

While carving canyons in Southern California, the new DB12 S displayed better responsiveness and composure at the same time. While carving canyons in Southern California, the new DB12 S displayed better responsiveness and composure at the same time.

The Ferrari racer added a bespoke bar to the flybridge and several other custom touches. The Ferrari racer added a bespoke bar to the flybridge and several other custom touches.

It’s Paloma month in London (allegedly), and our little black book of drinks experts reveal their favorite places to sample one. 

May is, apparently, London’s Paloma Month, culminating in World Paloma Day on 22 May. A quick look behind the curtain, however, suggests no real historical or cultural link between the pink tequila-and-grapefruit cocktail and the month itself—making the ‘celebration’ feel more like a well-timed marketing invention than an established tradition.

Which is curious, given that tequila and its associated cocktails hardly need any help. According to consumer data recently reported by The Guardian, the agave-based spirit has now overtaken gin as the UK’s bestselling spirit, and is set to be the pour of the summer.

The Paloma cocktail (Spanish for ‘dove’) is typically made with tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda, served over ice with a lime wedge and, sometimes, a salt rim. Some bars swap the soda for fresh grapefruit juice, topping the drink with club soda instead.

For at-home mixing, there are plenty of good grapefruit sodas on the market. For a more traditional Mexican-style serve, Jarritos Toronja – now widely available in London – remains something of a benchmark, with its sugar cane sweetness pairing particularly well with tequila blanco.

Elite Traveler drinks columnist Alice Lascelles swears by Two Keys Pink Grapefruit Soda when making Palomas at home. “It is the bomb,” she says. “I never use anything else.”

At Los Mochis, the Mexican-Japanese restaurant with locations in the City and Notting Hill, the house Paloma has developed a loyal following, including World of Fine Spirits editor-in-chief Alex Martin.

The team makes its own grapefruit cordial by blending grapefruit peel with sugar and citric acid, creating a brighter, sharper citrus profile. The drink is then lengthened with Wavelength Ruby – a non-alcoholic grapefruit kombucha – before being topped with Three Cents grapefruit soda.

The group’s Paloma obsession extends to Viajante87 in Notting Hill, its underground bar where Latin American ingredients and techniques shape the cocktail list. Both Tyler Zielinski, co-founder of Zest and author of Tiny Cocktails?, and spirits writer and judge Millie Milliken credited the venue as their favorite place in London to try the cocktail.

The winning drink, according to the experts, is the bar’s Coffee Paloma, one of the city’s more interesting takes on the classic. Milliken praises the addition of bitter grapefruit cordial and coffee to the usual mix of silver tequila and grapefruit soda, which gives the cocktail “more robustness and edge.”

Zielinski’s favorite is an off-menu version, made with fluffy grapefruit juice, creating what he describes as a silky, airy texture. “It was a subtle twist on the classic, but perfectly balanced, moreish, and quite impressive given its simplicity.”

For drinks writer Douglas Blyde, meanwhile, the best Paloma in London can be found in Mayfair, at Donovan Bar, inside Brown’s Hotel. There, Salvatore Calabrese and head bartender Federico Pavan mix Casamigos tequila with agave and fresh lime before topping it with grapefruit soda over ice.

What makes it stand out? Blyde credits Pavan’s precision. “The pour is exact, the dilution judged rather than left to chance, the ice doing its work without hurry. He handles it as if it matters, which it does.”

The result, Blyde says, is a Paloma with the right balance of citrus, sweetness, and tequila bite.

As the broadcaster and conservationist celebrates his centenary, we look at his impact on the luxury tourism industry around the world. 

Sir David Attenborough has spent the majority of his life on Earth taking viewers to the furthest corners of the planet – from the depths of the Pacific to the ice shelves of Antarctica – while making generations of armchair naturalists desperate to see those places for themselves. Today, as the broadcaster and conservationist celebrates his 100th birthday, his influence still stretches far beyond television.

“Sir David Attenborough didn’t just bring the world into Brits’ living rooms, he made them desperate to get out and explore it,” Tom Orr, worldwide travel specialist at The Luxury Holiday Company, tells Elite Traveler. “For many travelers, their dream holidays started on the sofa, watching Planet Earth or Blue Planet. But over time, Attenborough didn’t just inspire trips – he changed attitudes.”

The so-called “Attenborough effect” ultimately became about more than wanderlust, forcing audiences and the travel industry alike to confront tourism’s relationship with fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife.

To mark his centenary, we take a closer look at the hotels, safaris, and travel experiences shaped by the icon – whether through his visits, storytelling, or the environmental awareness he brought into the mainstream.

See also: Sustainable Changemakers in Luxury to Know

Elewana Collection, East Africa

For many travelers, their first glimpse of East Africa’s wildlife came not on safari, but through Attenborough’s documentaries. Few luxury operators understand that connection better than Elewana Collection, whose lodges and camps stretch across Kenya and Tanzania.

“Sir David Attenborough’s work has made the public aware of the African continent and the dangers that Africa’s wildlife faces,” says the brand.

Attenborough and his team also stayed at Elsa’s Kopje in Kenya’s Meru National Park while filming naked mole rats – the curious underground creatures responsible for the tiny soil mounds scattered across the landscape.

Today, Elewana continues to champion the slower, wildlife-focused safari style Attenborough helped popularize, pairing intimate camps with conservation-led tourism.

Sukau Rainforest Lodge, Borneo

“Borneo is the place I’ve visited most,” Attenborough told The Guardian in 2015. “Its rainforest is full of riches and secrets, but it doesn’t give them up easily.” He first visited the island in the 1950s to encounter wild orangutans, later returning in 2011 to film for the BBC while staying at Sukau Rainforest Lodge.

Perched on the Kinabatangan River floodplain, the rustic luxury lodge remains deeply proud of the connection. Photos of Attenborough line the walls, one villa bears his name, and the boat used by the BBC crew has even been repurposed as the breakfast buffet table. More significantly, the lodge named Attenborough one of its Conservation Fellows in recognition of his contribution to awareness around the Kinabatangan ecosystem.

See also: The Future of Ultra-Luxury Travel in Fragile Destinations

Lizard Island Resort, Australia

Long before it became one of Australia’s most exclusive private island escapes, Lizard Island was already on Attenborough’s radar. He first visited in 1957, later returning to film Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough. Today, one of the island’s 24 beaches bears his name.

While not directly connected to the resort itself, guests at Lizard Island Resort can visit the nearby Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station, a world-renowned coral reef facility that played a role in Attenborough’s reef research and now hosts around 100 scientific projects annually.

Though the island has evolved into a byword for barefoot luxury, Attenborough himself has long argued tourism and conservation can coexist “if they behave in a proper way.”

Robin Pope Safaris, Zambia

The predators of Zambia’s South Luangwa starred in Kingdom, the BBC wildlife series narrated by Attenborough that followed the lives of lions, leopards, hyenas, and painted dogs across the Nsefu Sector over four years.

For Robin Pope Safaris, the production was especially personal. The BBC crew stayed across the operator’s camps, including Nsefu Camp and Tena Tena, while the series also spotlighted the work of the Zambian Carnivore Programme, with whom the company has partnered for more than a decade.

South Luangwa still feels thrillingly raw, but Attenborough’s involvement helped place international attention on the region’s conservation-led safaris rather than high-volume tourism.

Tirimbina Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

For Attenborough, Costa Rica has long represented one of conservation’s great success stories. Behind-the-scenes footage from The Green Planet revealed that he returned to one site three decades later to find former grassland transformed into thriving rainforest.

That same spirit runs through the country’s eco-tourism industry. “Guests aren’t only seeing incredible wildlife, they’re also seeing a country that’s made conservation part of its identity,” says Cassie Stickland, senior product manager at Saga Holidays.

One stop on Saga’s Wild Costa Rica tour is La Tirimbina Biological Reserve in Sarapiquí, home to Tirimbina Eco Lodge, a rainforest eco-lodge and research station dedicated to sustainable tourism and environmental education.

Attenborough once stayed at the reserve, a fact commemorated by a plaque outside his room – a small detail, perhaps, but one that still feels meaningful for wildlife lovers raised on his documentaries.