Apilco
Bistro Ware.
As a boy, my first ever cup of coffee was served to me by Annie, in a large Apilco green and gold cup and saucer. I thought it was all trés chic. Annie was French, and so was her crockery […]
DESIGN
L'Atelier du Vin.
By Jonathan Campbell
The French do luxury better than anyone else. In fact, from afar, it looks like they’ve made luxury a way of life. This love of luxury and fine wine has led family-run French business L’Atelier du Vin to create the most beautiful tools for wine aficionados […]
The French do luxury better than anyone else. In fact, from afar, it looks like they’ve made luxury a way of life. They certainly seem to aspire to live elegantly as a nation, and they appear to achieve it effortlessly.
Food and drink is one way this commitment to life’s luxuries is expressed. It’s practically a religion – which is why wine is still, for many, an essential part of the day. This love of luxury and fine wine has led one family-run French business in particular to create the most beautiful tools for wine aficionados.
L’Atelier du Vin has elevated the ritual of opening a bottle to luxury status. The company started making tools for wine connoisseurs in the early 1900s, designing and manufacturing the ‘Sanbri’, a corking machine that wouldn't break glass bottles. The name is a play on “no broken glass” in French. It was perfect for people who bought their wine by the cask.
With a market established, the company went on to create a range of classic corkscrews and fruit presses.
"We know just how special it is to savour a fine wine in good company,” explains Georges Richard, the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "And I am passionate about sharing l’art de vivre le vin à la française – the art of enjoying fine wine, the French way – with wine lovers across France, Europe and the world, by designing highly technical, excellent quality tools. I suppose you could say that L’Atelier du Vin is the hallmark of what brings my family together.”
L’Atelier du Vin is constantly striving to design, develop and produce highly precise tools that are as ergonomic as they are elegant. Their designers and craftspeople work with the finest materials, from solid walnut and oak to blown glass, leather and varnish. Their attention to detail is exceptional: the mechanisms, cogs, plates, rivets and screws in their tools are all carefully considered, to provide the user with the ultimate experience. Everything is still made in their workshops in France, ensuring that every new product is unmistakably French.
We have encountered one exception, however. This Oeno Motion Wood & Chrome corkscrew has the inimitable touch of an Englishman: Sir Paul Smith. The paths of The Obsessive and Sir Paul Smith often cross on beautiful objects, and collaborations like this one always come with our highest recommendation.
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Images. The Obsessive/L’Atelier du Vin
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