Our beautiful new blankets are based on a traditional horse blanket.

Last week Caroline and I were given a tour of an Italian vineyard by a young winemaker. James is in his early thirties and is burning bright; he has the sort of drive and knowledge that are as rare as they are beguiling. His aim is to create wonderful, aromatic wines using ancient, almost instinctive techniques; biodynamics, flinty soil, very low yields, that sort of thing.

He has started on this career path relatively recently and everything about him is fierce commitment. He almost stumbles over words in his passion to communicate what matters about his wine. I find it hugely inspiring.

James is working with nature, and is moving forwards by going backwards to the times when science was learned through experience rather than from a fertilizer salesman.

He’s doing a great job. The wine from Sasso di Fata is delicious. He doesn’t know if he’ll succeed, but I would put my money on him.

The strongest things in his locker, beyond passion, are his instinct, his fanatical interest in the subject and his dawn-until-dusk work ethic.

The next morning, over a slow breakfast in the shade (the heat was breathtaking), I showed James our Gladstone / Hellen Scrapbook 2025, and we discussed the similarities between our businesses. In so many ways what we both do is identical.

Provenance is key. Great ingredients are both abstract (sun, soil) and physical (grapes, wool).

Passion and hard work radiate from great businesses in ways that you can see, touch and feel, physically and emotionally.

Low yield is true beauty. Mass production is beauty’s enemy. I’ve been reflecting on this, and I think it’s universally true.

Quality must be reflected at every stage. Great wine needs a great label, a good box, and great stuff around it.

Where does this take me?

Well, to the first point about provenance, this week we launch some new blankets, made in Scotland using British wool and which reveal not only many generations of skilled labour, but also the sun, the wind, the rain, the grass of upland Britain. There are striking similarities between this blanket and James’s wine; we are both making something at once traditional and strikingly modern which respects every ingredient, every hand, every piece of knowledge that contributes to its creation.

And, what’s more, Caroline has chosen the colours here to reflect the wool’s terroir. Find out more here.

This blanket will last forever and is as good on a sofa or bed as in a field for a picnic.

And to my fourth point about the quality that surrounds our products, we have printed a beautiful book called The Gladstone / Hellen Scrapbook 2025. In an increasingly digital world and one in which we don’t have an actual shop, we wanted to make something of real depth and substance that our supporters could hold and feel, and which would clearly illustrate our commitment to absolute quality.

This is part brand book, part coffee table book, part gentle homage to the wonderful mail order catalogues of many decades ago. It is printed in the south of England on amazing paper and was designed by our fifth child Kinvara. We are extremely proud of it, and it is here.