Old school New England 92 - Scanorama

THE EDITOR
ONCE DRIVEN,
FOREVER SMITTEN
I
have to admit, I haven’t seen that much of
Germany. I have passed through, or had
stopovers there, traveling by plane, train
and automobile. But it’s always been on the
way to somewhere else: Bretagne, the Alps,
the Dolomites, Paris or northern Italy. I still have
a lot of exploring to do.
Years ago, I was sent to Munich to cover one
of the big German marques’ launches. The trip
was a full-on press junket: seat at the front of
the plane, chauffeured limousine straight to the
racetrack. My fellow passengers were longtime
motoring journalists, and didn’t so much as raise
an eyebrow when we reached the test facility.
But I did. It was really something: high-tech,
expensive and on a grand scale.
Apart from driving too fast in a $150,000 car,
we were treated to the southern German landscape.
We were supposed to eat a traditional
lunch at a tavern and then spend the rest of the
day just driving around. There was no danger of
getting lost: with one press of a button, the GPS
would guide us back to base.
We drove through the beautiful fall landscape,
with the Alps as an occasional backdrop. Some
of those ample horsepower got a workout, but
it was mostly a gentle ride through the reddening
forest. After our pit stop at the authentic
tavern for beef stew the rest of the day was free.
My co-driver and I decided to make the most of
our wheels; while many of the others took the
same route home, we went in the opposite direction.
The part of my brain that stores spectacular
views had to work hard, but the part that appreciates
architecture was in overdrive. Our host’s
CONTRIBUTOR: IVAN CARVALHO, WRITER
You’ve covered Mount Etna’s vintners in
this issue. Who makes the best wine?
“They all deserve respect. Volcanic soil
makes for intense wine, but producers
could lose everything if the lava flows the
wrong way. If I had to pick one, it would
be Marco de Grazia’s winery, Tenuta delle
Terre Nere (www.marcdegrazia.com). He’s
got a superb palate and a proven track
record helping growers up and down Italy’s
boot make great wine.”
You live in Milan, where do you buy wine?
“N’Ombra de Vin in Brera (Via San Marco
2. www.nombra devin.it) has a unique wine
cellar. The space dates from the 14th cen-
test facility was well and truly overtaken by those
of its competitors. In the middle of nowhere, we
found incredible architectural tours de force:
factories, test facilities, HQs and museums.
But because of our assignment we could only
appreciate them from afar.
THE PART OF MY BRAIN
THAT APPRECIATES
ARCHITECTURE WAS
IN OVERDRIVE
IN THIS ISSUE OF SCANORAMA, Oskar Hammarkrantz
and Peter Cederling take a road trip
through Germany’s car kingdom. If you are at
all interested in cars, architecture or high tech,
then this is a journey to remember. We also
tour London’s comedy clubs, Mount Etna’s
wineries and Harvard University.
Happy travels.
See you again in February.
PER OLSSON
Editor in chief
Visit us online
at www.scanorama.com
tury and once housed a refectory where
Augustinian monks ate their meals. Now it
has 3,000 wines in stock from bordeaux to
Barolos. It’s the perfect spot for an aperitivo
before a night on the town.”
Jet black: A 1951 Porsche 356
split-window coupe
Laborers picking grapes on Mt. Etna
What else would you buy in Milan?
“Panettone is a must around Christmas.
I get mine at Pasticceria Marchesi (Via
Santa Maria alla Porta 11. www.pasticceriamarchesi.it).
It has the prettiest shopwindow.
New in town is Coin’s Excelsior
department store and food hall behind the
Duomo – it also has a well-stocked wine
cellar and restaurant (Galleria del Corso 4.
www.excelsior milano.com). To stay warm,
I pop into Massimo Alba (Via Brera 8.
www.massimoalba.com) for cashmere
sweaters and then dart over to Faliero Sarti
(Via Solferino 11. www.falierosarti.com) to
load up on scarves.”
20 DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012 SCANORAMA
BOBO OLSSON, PETER CEDERLING, GUIDO CASTAGNOLI