Do you often sit around murmuring to yourself? Do the kiddies and other rels think you've drunk all the 23l you made from the Coopers DIY brew kit they gave you for Chrissie? Do they think you tossed down a few bottles of the Fleur de Miraval ER3 rose Champagne from Brad and Angelina's Chateau Miraval as a chaser?
Of course, Balmain readers like Helen, would know B&A are battling in the divorce and other courts about the vineyard in what we call the "War of the Rose." But if you do spend $600 on one of the few bottles in Australia you will find the French sparkling "opens on a magnificent bouquet of spring flowers, with notes of peony and hawthorn, interwoven with bright, luscious red fruit such as raspberry and redcurrant."
Anyway, I know what you're murmuring about. Who are the world's top 20 petrol heads? Well, this month's BusinessF1mag lists them all. BusinessF1 is the creation of Tom Rubython who sold china and pottery at local markets before starting trade mags, launching Formula 1 magazine with Bernie Ecclestone, launching BusinessF1 in competition with Bernie and writing books including on Ayrton Senna, James Hunt, Barry White and Richard Burton.
Among the 20, much like the total number of readers of this column, are some names well known outside petrol-head land. Number 6 on the list is drummer Nicholas Berkeley Mason. Mr Mason hits the skins for a group called Pink Floyd who play tunes like Ummagumma, Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict, and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. Strangely enough Mr Mason made money out of these ditties, well enough to buy 40 Fezzers and own one of world's best quality car collections.
Number 7 is former tie salesperson Ralph Lauren, who sells over $10bn worth of schmutter a year, all with a horse on the front. Ironically, Mr Lauren, invested in cars rather than horsies. His collection is worth a billion and includes a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, three McLaren F1s and the most beautiful car in the world – the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic.
Last on the list is another band person, Guy Berryman, the bass player for a group called Coldplay who have enjoyed a modicum of success over 20 years. Apart from a few good tunes, Mr Berryman's claim to car fame is The Road Rat magazine. You need to be a very serious car person with artistic pretensions to pay about $300 a year for four sumptuous editions.
Talking of Ferraris, the latest Hagerty Market Trend sees "anticipation for price increases, which fuelled the boom during the pandemic, has largely left the minds of bidders, resulting in lower prices." "This is more of a return to normal than it is an implosion of classic car values. The current non-inflation adjusted median sale price is $30,450, a significant drop from its high of $34,560 in October 2022, but it's really just a reset to October 2020 levels," it opines.
Remember I told, sorry suggested, you go and see Ford vs Ferrari even if you weren't into cars and you ended up loving it. Next month you have to see Michael Mann's Ferrari. Yes, there's lots of expensive 1957 machinery going quickly on the Mille Miglia. Yes, there's Adam Driver, Penny Cruz and Pat Dempsey. But there's a good old Italian plot. Enzo, is having a few million problems with wife Penny Cruz, even more problems in his relationship with Piero, his second son from his mistress Lina and his company is going so far south he can hear the bankruptcy bells blaring. So, of course, he puts all the money he doesn't have on to the Fezzer team winning the 1957 Mille Miglia.