Dirt bike. Mag wheels.
That’s one of my earliest memories of a holiday gift that made my eyes go wide. I’d campaigned for a dirt bike for more than a year, and the mag wheels were the detail that pushed it from want to need in my 10-year-old mind. This gift didn’t appear under the tree like everything else. It was unveiled later, pulled from our own family vault—i.e., the garage—as the morning’s final reveal.
I didn’t know then that the moment would end up mirroring how we select gifts at Robb Report decades later. This year, the staff discussed and debated hundreds of contenders for the Ultimate Gift Guide in our Giving Issue. The real test wasn’t verbal. It was physical. Eyebrows had to lift. Eyes had to widen. A tiny, incredulous nod didn’t hurt. If that didn’t happen, we moved on.
So, what cleared that bar?
We began in the air: a nine-day helicopter expedition through Peru with canyon landings, private tented camps at altitude, and a stop at Lake Titicaca to weave with a master artisan. On the water, a 35-foot mahogany Van Dam runabout marries vintage wooden-boat craftsmanship with 1,100 hp of modern grunt. Oenophiles will find a history-making bottle of 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay—one of the last survivors of the Judgment of Paris—poured during a private dinner at the estate. The meticulous dresser can go fully bespoke with the Armoury’s Mark Cho, where a suit, shoes, and a leather bag are made for you across three master Japanese ateliers. And yes, that’s only a sampling. The full list includes 27 gifts, each chosen the same way.
For the second year in a row, the Ultimate Gift Guide will live as a special collection in The Vault, Robb Report’s online home for all things rare and exceptional. For a short window, these gifts will be available exclusively to readers through the QR code in this issue. So, if the one-of-one platinum Cartier Cintrée caught your eye, or you’re already picturing yourself in the car condo with the 1975 Porsche 911S, move quickly. As we like to say: Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
Beyond holiday giving, there’s much more to unwrap in this issue. Writer Jonny Lieberman takes the wheel of Audi’s sleek Concept C, where he learns that thrilling all-electric performance can be driven by design rather than data. Tim Pitt, meanwhile, looks at the other side of the E.V. push in “Losing Charge,” where the market keeps reminding us that emotion—not specs or speed—is what moves collectors.
Next, editor at large Mark Ellwood brings us to the Nile’s west bank in Luxor, Egypt, where the visionary behind a luxury hotel is transforming a stretch of land into a working farm and artisan’s enclave—papermakers, ceramicists, furniture makers—all collaborating alongside the river. And in “Houses of the Vine,” wine editors Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen take us inside the wine world’s most exclusive guild: 12 families who have shaped fine wine for generations, passing down knowledge the way others would heirlooms.
Decades ago, that dirt bike didn’t make my jaw drop because of the price tag. It hit because someone paid attention to the detail that mattered most. Somewhere in these pages—on the road, in a vineyard, or hovering over a Peruvian volcano—I hope you feel that same spark. Eyebrows raised and eyes wide open.
Happy Holidays, and enjoy the issue.
Authors
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John Vorwald