Sardinia, Italy - Pasticceria Sa Conca (Porto Cervo)

Pasticceria Sa Conca bake eye-pleasing and mouth-wateringly delicious Italian pastries, but they just happen to be located on one of the most glorious islands in the world: Sardinia. Pasticceria Sa Conca’s (Via Sa Conca, Porto Cervo) modest interior and simple display cases evoke the simplicity of a rural Italian pasticceria from many years ago, yet it exists in a town where glamorous opulence and extravagant displays of wealth surround it on all sides. The stark contrast between this humble bakery and the town of Porto Cervo, coupled with the authentic flavor of its sweets, is what makes it a true gem.

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La Piola on Lyndhurst Terrace Hong Kong

A brand new Italian restaurant has opened on Lyndhurst Terrace called La Piola. Meaning 'Tavern' in Italian, the restaurant is designed to give local diners an authentic Italian experience, socializing over a glass of wine and enjoying delicious homemade, hearty food cooked in the Piedmont style.

Located in the northwest of Italy, Turin (Torino) is the capital city of Piedmont. The 'slow food' trend originated from this region, as does some of the best rice, risotto and wines. At La Piola, the wine selection focuses on Piedmont wines, some of which are new to the Hong Kong market and exclusive to the restaurant.
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Perrier-Jouët celebrates 200 years with the Bi-Centenaire champagne

True delicious wine only grows tastier as it ages. The same goes for a champagne house. And Champagne House Perrier-Jouët knows how to celebrate 200 years of fine spirits in style! The event unveiled an exclusive Perrier-Jouët Bi-Centenaire champagne which is the very first Living Legacy champagne designed to be passed on to future generations. American artist Daniel Arsham brought to the foray a unique diptych sculpture, revealing glimpses of the bottles of the new aged drink which was exclusively designed to express the philosophy of this champagne.
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Marilyn Monroe champagne

There seems to be no end to people’s love affair with Marilyn Monroe. Every passing day we hear of new posthumous honor being conferred in her memory. This time it was the distinguished French champagne house JM Gobillard & Fils who has produced the bubbly spirit for Norwegian based company Rosmersholm. The champagne which is made from 50% Chardonnay and the rest from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier was aged in the cellar for three years before being packaged in a well-designed bottle.
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Chocouture Diamond Collection delights the chic gorgers

Chocolates are appetizing in their own accord and need no enticing for the complete chocoholics. Some makers just take advantage of people’s weaknesses and make their selling point all the more irresistible. The 24k gold and diamond chocolates in the chocouture Diamond Collection falls exactly in that category with its perfect grandeur and edible gold leaf. The single malt Scotch ganache candies are studded with a candy diamond made of sugar. It’s perfectly finished off with a foil of glassine paper inside a faux leather box. They retail just for $105 for a pack of 16 pieces.

[Luxist]

The world’s most expensive ‘haute’ dog now a menu regular!

It was almost a year ago that we had reported about the world’s most expensive Frankie by Manhattan’s Serendipity 3 restaurant. Now the famous 'Serendipity Foot Long Haute Dog' has been put on the menu for the big pocket, hot dog aficionado and will cost a cool $69 for a foot long.
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Remy Martin launches Louis XIII Le Jeroboam with Have A Taste Of Legend campaign

The wait is over! Right in time to celebrate the weekend, Luxurylaunches wants to say Cheers by announcing the launch of Louis XIII Le Jeroboam of Rémy Martin. The 3 liter decanter holds four times more cognac than the regular Louis XIII bottle.
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The Heart Burger : Le Love Giant

Granted, that this burger is neither blinged with diamonds nor gilded with gold. Its not expensive either, at only 2.5 Euros a burger ; yet it has managed to land itself on the Rich Times. Call us suckers for love, but thats what we are and we justify writing about this beautiful burger by the fact that its extremely exclusive.

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Anyone want to try a $2,380 pizza?

Pizza is one of the staples of the Western countries especially among the young and lower class. It is generally regarded as a cheap and convenient meal. So when we heard about this $ 2,380 pizza being sold in Malta, a Southern-European country it was a real surprise.

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The $3,800 Densuke Watermelon in Japan

Writing for a luxury blog, the last thing that you expect to write about is watermelons. I kid you not, but flabbergasted is not enough to cover my initial reaction when told to write about these black rind watermelons from Japan. That I had never even heard of such melons did not make it any easier for me to get started on this write-up. But when you are told that a watermelon has been sold for 300,000 Yen which despite the crazy inflation is still a neat USD $3,800 ; you cant help but take notice.

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American Airlines bags the Best Business Class White Wine 2010 award

I never though a day will come when airlines will actually be awarded for what the serve onboard. But its true, Business Traveller magazine hosted the 2010 Cellars in the Sky Awards which is a wine competition, and adjudged that American Airlines indeed has the best white wine collection! Bagging the honors for in the Best Business Class White Wine category at the London award ceremony, the airline does offer an extensive range of fine wines when flying, which earned them the well deserving award.

As per the airlines, they pick wines for each flight keeping in mind the “ethnic, cultural, seasonal and stylistic differences of each destination”. Thus the airline has a collection of more than 25 different wine lists, for special routes and offers over 60 wine options onboard at any point of time, juggling with it frequently.
Some of the wines on offer include Chateau Villa Bel Air, Chateau Teyssier St Emilion Grand Cru, Lustau Amontillado La Plaza Viejo Sherry, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve Particuliere, Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon and the Grahams Quinta Malvedos Vintage Port.

[IBTimes]

Hart Davis Hart, America’s largest wine auction house opens up with a $4.6 million sale

If you are a lover of fine vintage wines then 2011 bring you one of the first reasons to rejoice. Hart Davis Hart, which is also the largest wine auction house in America ringed in the new year with a bang as their first auction of the year with the finest and rarest wines on offer was complete sold out. What was touted to fetch between $2.9 million and $4.3 million earned a record $4.6 million. And taking top honors for the day was a case of 1982 Château Lafite. Estimated between $38,000 and $55,000, the wine earned a staggering $65,725 when the hammer came down, making it the best buy of the auction.

[HDHwine]

Taylor’s releases rare 150 year old pre-phylloxera tawny port

There has always been an argument over the superiority of pre-phylloxera wines over post-phylloxera wines with most thinking the former wins hands down when it comes to superior taste and quality. But chances of getting your hands on a pre-phylloxera period wine are very rare. Given this rarity of this superior ranked wine, wine connoisseur have no qualms of shelling out thousands of pounds to acquire this fine blend. Well, if you are one such wine connoisseur in search of that pre-phylloxera period wine, here is your chance. Taylor’s has just released a pre-phylloxera tawny port with more than 150 years of cask age. Taylor’s Scion, which has been maturing in the Douro since 1855, was bought in cask by the company earlier this year. And instead of blending it with its 30 and 40 year old tawny blends, Taylor has decided to release this pre-phylloxera wine at cost of £2,500 ($3,935) a bottle.

According to Adrian Bridge, CEO of The Fladgate Partnership, owner of Taylor’s, “This wine still has some nice acidity, which gives some bite to the wine and gives something that is just quite extraordinary.”
The wine will come packaged in a specially designed decanter and wooden box based on a 19th century instrument case. Limited to 1,400 bottles only, this new offering from Taylor’s will surely be usurped by the wine connoisseurs in a jiffy.

[Decanter]

Limited Edition Amarone Bottega luxury wine ships in leather case

Before you confuse this Bottega with the luxury cousin of Gucci, let us tell you: this is Distilleria Bottega, the company famous for their luscious grapes and have been in the Guinness Book of World Record for their wines. So now, the experts at Bottega have taken a step further and teamed up with American designer Denise Focil to create a new, luxury wine called the Amarone Bottega, Il vino Prêt-á-porter.


Amarone Bottega is a red wine created from a mixture of different vines, the most important being Veronese Corvina, of which 40-70% is present in the wine. The Rondinella grapes (20-40%) and the Molinara grapes (5-25%) are also essential. Described as a rich full-bodied wine with a flowery bouquet with a slight hint of almonds and noticeable touch of spice, the highlight of Amarone is the vintage suitcase-kind case it comes in. Encrusted with metal studs, the white leather case features a metal plaque with the ‘Alpinestars by Denise Focil’ logo engraved on it.
Now if that isn’t that a ‘WOW’ concept for wine gifting?!

[Moodiereport]

1990 Petrus red rare wine for grabs

Nothing like a great glass of wine and who knows this better than the French! The 1990 Petrus red rare wine is very young and one of the least evolved from the Montrose and Beausejour-Daffau vintage. It boasts ruby/purple colours and is sweet, low in acidity and has velvety tannins. The wine almost perfect but it would reach the T if you wait another five to ten years and allow it to mature to its best. Its capacity reaches 40 years so there needn’t be any fear of wait. It costs $58,891. :)

[FineWines]

Most expensive kebab in the world gets glorified with gold, saffron and champagne

How many kebabs can you eat in a minute? Well before you answer that, you will need to know how much you’re forking out on each of them. Not that you won’t eat one afterwards, but you will be considerably slower while wolfing it down, savoring every bit of the flavors. Tagged as the 'King of Kebabs', Chef Andy Bates has come up with the world’s most expensive kebab to celebrate the launch of The Great Food Truck Race TV show that will glorify street food.

Priced at £750 ($1,225) a piece, the kebab is made using “gold leaf for a finishing flourish and champagne-infused mint and cucumber yoghurt” that justifies its cost. The ingredients include Shoulder of milk-fed lamb (£84), Coeur de Boeuf tomatoes ( £20), Micro Cress and Bibb Salad ( £11.95), Chili Peppers ( £35), Barrel Aged Feta Cheese ( £54.20), Laudemio Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( £26.95), Purple violet potatoes ( £15), Edible gold leaf and platinum ( £130), Saffron ( £138), Krug Champagne ( £195), Other ingredients (garlic, lemon, salsa, mint, cucumber, yoghurt) ( £40) which totals up to £750.10.
[TheSun]