Cellar Stories
Why the Cape Makes Red Blends You Can’t Stop Pouring
At The Magnum Company, we have a bit of a soft spot for red blends. There's something quietly luxurious about the way they layer and unfold - like slipping into a conversation that’s already had time to get interesting. And if there’s one region that seems to have truly mastered the art of the red blend, it’s South Africa’s Western Cape. We didn’t mean to fall so hard for them. But once you’ve poured one, it’s hard to stop. A Landscape Built for Blending The Western Cape is where mountain meets vineyard meets sea - and somehow, you can taste...
The Espresso Martini: A Ritual, Not Just a Recipe
There are few drinks that command attention quite like the Espresso Martini. Not because it arrives with flair or flourish, but because of the curious way it seems to straddle both ends of the evening - a beginning and an end, an energy boost and a wind-down. It has, in its short life, become something more than a cocktail. It’s a cue. A moment. A little luxury we’ve collectively decided is worth pausing for. Its origins, like many great things, are slightly contested. What we do know is that sometime in the 1980s, a bartender in London was asked to...
The Gin Martini: Straightforward, Sophisticated, and Often Misunderstood
Few drinks carry the same weight of mystique as the Martini. It is, in many ways, the archetype of the cocktail - the one ordered with a raised brow, delivered with ceremony, and sipped with intention. And yet, for all its elegance, the Gin Martini remains one of the most misunderstood drinks in the canon. It is simple, yes - but simplicity and ease are not the same thing. Like a well-cut suit or a handwritten note, it demands precision. Get it right, and it is quietly magnificent. Get it wrong, and it’s little more than a chilled glass of...
Olive Oil: Liquid Gold, and Yes – It’s Really That Good
Olive oil has always had a certain mystique about it. There’s something in the way it catches the light - warm, green-gold, slow-moving that feels elemental, almost ancient. And perhaps that’s because it is. Long before it became a kitchen staple, it was a symbol of purity, wealth and endurance. It anointed kings. It lit lamps. It was, quite literally, the oil that kept the world turning. Today, it’s more likely to appear drizzled over sourdough or pooled beside burrata. But for all its familiarity, olive oil is still very much deserving of its reverence - especially the kind that’s...