This contemporary villa located in the European playground of St Jean Cap Ferrat was created by designers Lazzarini Pickering and is a stunning contemporary residence which has beautiful ocean views. The home is located on the exclusive Avenue de Rothschild in this Mediterranean resort of the wealthy. There is a large main villa with views along the French Riviera and living areas on three floors. The main villa can be purchased separately or with two smaller three bedroom guest houses and a staff apartment. The property also includes gardens, a terrace, swimming pool, wine cellar and parking for two cars. This home is listed at $23.5 million.

I'm far too lazy to have my own winery but I love stories of small family-owned wineries. Foursight Wines is a new Anderson Valley family owned and operated winery producing just a few hundred cases of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc each year. Foursight Wines is a collaboration between two generations of the Charles family: Bill and Nancy - local winegrowers - their daughter, Kristy (the executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association), and her fiancé, Joe Webb (a Sonoma State Wine Business graduate, currently working with Londer Vineyards). That's Kristy and Joe hard at work in the picture on the right. The name refers to the four people behind the wine as well as to four generations that have lived and worked on the same land which has in the past been a timber mill, farmland, grazing land for livestock, and now a winery.

The 2006 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir was hand-harvested from the family vineyard and sells for $46 (425 cases produced). The 2007 Anderson Valley Sauvignon Blanc came from the Ferrington Vineyard and was made in 100% stainless steel and sells for $20, (189 cases produced). All vineyard work is done by the family, with help only during pruning and harvest. A tasting room is in the works and should be open in fall 2008, for now the wines can be ordered at the winery website.

When I was asked to try out the new Guess by Mariciano fragrance I wasn't terribly optimistic. I associate the brand with a certain level of girliness and was sure it would be another bubblegum pink juice. The fragrance is actually much better than that. It has an attractive triangular bottle with a fishnet motif that features a gold vine motif. According to The Scented Salamander, the vine motif will be distributed as a temporary tattoo in the Guess boutiques.

The scent was created by created by perfumer Barbara Zoebelein of Drom Fragrances for Parlux Fragrances. It has top notes of cardamom, Curaçao orange, starfruit and grapefruit, a heart of pink honeysuckle, peony and crystal jasmine, and a base of musk, vanilla, dulce de leche and blonde wood. It starts off a little powdery but in a half hour or so you are left with a warm and sweet fragrance of musky floral mixed with caramel. Very sensual and a nice summer evening scent. The line includes: 1.7 oz and 3.4 oz eaux de parfum for $49 and $65, a 6 oz. body lotion for $30 and 5 oz. body butter for $35.

Want your own bottle? We are giving away one 3.4 ounce bottle of eau de parfum (sells for $65) at random to a commenter who tells us about their favorite summer scent. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Thursday, May 15, 2008. We'll randomly choose one winner amongst the eligible entries and announce the winner on May 16, 2008.

Some other important details:

* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below telling us about your favorite summer scent.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before Thursday, May 15 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive the Guess eau de parfum (value $65).
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.

See complete contest rules here.

British Columbia's waterfront condo market is booming but I hadn't considered that the ample waterfront space might also be a spot for luxury yachts. The Vancouver Sun reports on the proposed mega-yacht marina which is scheduled for Victoria in 2009. The planned $20-million, 48-berth marina at Songhees would attract larger yachts ranging from 65 to 140 feet long and is designed to offer a permanent place for these larger yachts. The marina will be located at the entrance to the Victoria Harbour and will consist of two symmetrical one-story buildings that will sit at either side of a 46-slip marina. The architecture of the buildings will mimic the look of a yacht setting out to sea, with sweeping bows, squared off sterns, and solid stainless steel rigging. From above, the view of the rooflines will look like a stylized yacht propeller. In addition to the Yacht Club facilities, the marina buildings will also include a public restaurant and lounge, the Harbour Heritage Coffee House, as well as a supplier of marine provisions and a yachting concierge marine management center.

Oh wow, NFL cornerback and occasional aspiring wrestler Adam "Pacman" Jones is another athlete hoping for a big sale on his house. The flamboyant former Nashville Titan has moved on to the Dallas Cowboys and so he has put his Franklin, Tennessee home up for sale. And reading the blurb on the Real Estalker I knew I was in for a doozy. I've never seen quite so many gargantuan televisions in one place outside of a sports bar. The five-bedroom home is on 30 acres (the property website is called 30 acres and a lake). I'm not sure quite what to make of this one-- a big brick arch in the middle of a room for no good reason, a bedroom that appears to have a set of home theater seats plunked in front of a massive screen, a bathroom that seems to be designed based on the health clubs and gyms that Pacman Jones has likely seen a few of-- all these things combine to make a home that is many things but welcoming is not one of them. The property includes an eight-stall horse barn and a bucolic dock and lake spoiled by the addition of fountains. No pool but there is an above ground hot tub plunked onto the back deck. There are also two other homes on the property. Jones picked up the home in 2006 from an actress and a producer for $1.575 million and has listed it for $1,799,950 which the listing calls "priced well below market value." Maybe, but it will still be a hard sell.

California Chardonnays sometimes get a bad reputation for being overly oaky. While big, oaky Chards definitely have their place, especially with richer foods, an unoaked Chardonnay can offer a light and fruity taste that is perfect for summer. Summers Estate Wines in Calistoga has released their "Le Nude," a limited-production un-oaked Chardonnay which is fermented in stainless steel and produced from grapes grown in the Alexander Valley. This is the first time Summers Estate Wines has produced a "naked" Chardonnay. The wine is made from grapes grown in the Alexander Valley and has flavors of tropical fruit and yellow flowers. This wine sells for $24 and has a screw cap, making it an easy choice for outdoor picnics.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--A look at the planned Nobu Hotel and Residences in the Financial District. The project, in which Robert De Niro is an investor, is a 62-story glass tower at 45 Broad Street that will include 77 "super-luxury" condos, a 128-room hotel, retail space and a Nobu restaurant on the third floor.
--Hillary Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson and his wife, Terri McCullough, who's chief of staff for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have sold their condo at 455 Central Park West for $1.91 million. Not much of a profit, they bought the condo in 2005 for just under $1.8 million.
--Former Mets and Yankees pitcher David Cone is looking for an in-town apartment. He was recently spotted in the Miraval Living condominium sales office on the Upper East Side.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Baron Eric de Rothschild just bought his painter wife, Maria-Beatrice Caracciolo Di Forino, a Village penthouse where she can do some work whenever they're staying in New York. According to deeds, they paid $1.15 million for the one-bedroom, 1,050-square-foot co-op at 40 West 12th Street.
--Hotelier Jeff Klein has sold his house at 153 West 18th Street for $5.95 million.
--The listing for the late Brooke Astor's duplex at 778 Park Avenue is finally online, we covered it as our estate of the day on Friday.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Melissa Etheridge has sold a six-bedroom house in Hidden Hills for an undisclosed price after it had been listed for $4,995,000. The home was purchased by a two trusts (the Olivers Estate Trust and the Veronica Matsui Trust) which may indicate the home was purchased by a celebrity (the Real Estalker says Michael Bolton and Nicolette Sheridan are
--Actress and former MTV VJ Kari Wuhrer has sold a Craftsman-style house in Los Angeles' Windsor Square area for $1.7 million.
--Comedian Carlos Mencia and his wife, Amy, purchased an Encino, CA home in November from actor Eddie Cibrian for an official purchase price of $4.3 million.
--via the Observer, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her NFL husband Tim have paid $3,25 million. for a condo on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

From the Real Estalker:
--The Real Estalker Mama drops a tasty blind item that a mystery billionaire will be bidding on the Kaufmann house auction that will be part of the Christie's auction on May 13.
--Action actor Jason Statham has been spotted checking out the Devlin Drive home, shown above, recently put on the market by Christina Aguilera for $7.995 million. The virtual tour of this amazing home is here.
--Former CSI: Miami actress Khandi Alexander has cut the price again on her Hollywood Hills home. It was ginally listed at $4,495,000 but is now down to $2,995,000 which is not much more than the $2,850,000 she paid back in January of 2006. The listing says "huge $1 million price reduction" in bold block letters with an army of exclamation points.
--Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance have dropped the price on their Hancock Park home from $5.999 million to $4.6 million. The listing is here.
--Britney Spears has been spotted touring a 7,350 square foot house on Tara Drive in the Clark Gable community of Encino.
--Dishonored Lord Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel are quietly putting their Palm Beach, Florida home on the market. No listing price yet but in 2007, the Palm Beach assessor valued the estate at $27,980,115 so we are likely looking at a fairly big number here.
--Football player Pacman Jones has listed Tennessee home, it's our estate of the day later today.
--Once again, Michael Jackson has forestalled foreclosure on Neverland.
--Louwana, a grand old Palm Beach, Florida estate has been listed for sale for $30 million. The listing is here.
--Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have put their Malibu home for summer rent again for $95,000.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--More background on Roman Abramovich's purchase of Wildcat Ridge. Abramovich also bought another home in the area for $11.8 million in February.
--Baseball great Henry "Hank" Aaron has listed his West Palm Beach, Fla., home that borders a golf course for $900,000.
--A home in Corona del Mar, California has sold for about $28 million, a record for an Orange County off-water property, local brokers say.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Former NHL player Ken Belanger has put his three-bedroom Manhattan Beach townhouse on the market for $1.125 million. It is listed with Ed Kaminsky.

It's safe to say Uma Thurman won't be wearing Lancome any time soon. The actress has filed a $15 million lawsuit against the French cosmetics company saying that they continued use her face in their ads after her contract expired. The licensing agreement to use Thurman's image ended in 2004 but the suit says that the brand has continued to use her face to sell products around the world for the past four years. Lancome has filed their own suit saying that it did not violate the contract and does not owe her money. A spokesperson for L'Oreal, the owner of Lancome, said that the use of her image after the contract expired was not deliberate or intentional.

This isn't the first time we've seen celebrity endorsement gone wrong. Last year, watch company Raymond Weil sued Charlize Theron after she wore a Dior watch to an event while under an exclusive endorsement agreement with Weil.

Beaumere has an enviable spot on the water in Larchmont Harbor (in Larchmont, NY, thanks,designer38305495) with water on three sides. The home sits on over four acres and has 6,720 square feet of space with an additional 2,261 square-foot two-bedroom guest apartment. The property includes an in ground swimming pool with 2 cabanas each equipped with dressing room and new bath with adjoining kitchenette and bar, a carriage house with a large garage, a grass tennis court and a gazebo that overlooks the long private dock. The home was listed at $25 million in mid 2007, had gone down to $22 million by the time Elite Choice covered it in December and now is listed at $18 million.

[Thanks, Steven!]

This week will mark the release of the 2005 edition of the Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. The wine benefits the Lasallian Education Fund (LEF), the West Coast Educational Foundation of the De La Salle Christian Brothers. This is the second release of this wine created to honor a grand icon of California's wine industry. The collectible wine is crafted by The Hess Collection Winery and for the first time, this wine was made from a tiny, single vineyard using the Mont La Salle Vineyard estate grapes grown at the site of the original Christian Brothers winery where Brother Timothy worked as cellar master for more than 50 years. The wine is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot and has rich cherry and plum flavors. It was aged for 18 months in French oak.

The 2005 Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon will release on May 15, 2008 at a reception held at Wilson Daniels Ltd. and retails for $94 per 750-mL ($194 per 1.5 liter).Approximately 100 cases were made, including a number of large-format bottles. Pre-sale orders, which will receive a 10% pre-release discount, will be taken by phone and by mail May 1 – June 15, 2008. All proceeds benefit the Lasallian Education Fund, the fundraising arm of Lasallian schools located in the District of San Francisco, which exists to serve low-income families who do not have access to a quality education. Currently, some 10,000 students in four western states are benefiting from education in the tradition of the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

I've seen a few real estate developments that combine vineyards and residences in the States and it seems that idea is becoming popular elsewhere. Decanter reports on La Melonera, a new 200 hectare (approx. 495 acres) development in southern Spain's winemaking region, Ronda's Serrania. Buyers will take on a section of the vineyard and make their own wine with the help of expert winemakers. The plots vary between 12 and 48 acres. The estate is planted with local grape varieties including the La Melonera which gives the property its name and the first harvest is expected in 2011. Sales of the properties will begin in June and prices start at 3.5 million euros.

Should you be able to sell the love letters from a famous ex? Joe Montana doesn't think so. The NFL football great has sued his ex-wife Kim Moses and Heritage Auction over the sale of love letters and other memorabilia dating back to his college days at Notre Dame. Montana says that the items which were sold at Heritage on May 3, violated his copyright and privacy rights. The items sold include the couple's marriage certificate, her bridal veil, Montana's college I.D. card and a lot of personal letters and cards full of all sorts of intimate details. Montana is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 and the lawsuit says that Moses obtained some of the items without his consent after they were divorced (the couple married in 1974 and divorced less than three years later). Whether or not it is legal remains to be seen but it does show questionable taste to auction off one's college love letters to the highest bidder.

The beautiful and historic city of Istanbul seems to be suddenly becoming a hot spot for travel and shopping, not just for those looking for a historical experience but for those looking for the latest stores and hotels. The International Herald Tribune recently did a story on the rise of shopping malls in the Turkish town. Income is rising in Turkey and malls are attracting shoppers by offering newness and one-stop shopping, food and entertainment. Foreign retailers are starting to move in as well. WWD reports that the Christian Dior boutique at the Istinye Park shopping complex is thriving. Although the general economic environment is worsening, Turkish retail is very appealing to foreign investors.

One foreign brand making a move in Istanbul is W Hotels Worldwide which will mark its entry into Europe with the grand opening of W Istanbul. The W Istanbul is the centerpiece of the Ottoman Row Houses. W Istanbul features 134 guest rooms, including 26 suites, Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market restaurant, and a signature spa. The rooms include private gardens, terraces and cabanas and are designed in a blend of modern and Turkish design.The project complex in which W Istanbul is located includes luxury residences and retail shops which will offer global luxury brands.

The listing for the much-talked-about Brooke Astor apartment has hit the market. Mrs. Astor, who died at the age of 105 last year was one of the grand dames of New York society. Her home at 778 Park Avenue is considered to be an exceedingly prime New York co-op. The five-bedroom apartment has high ceilings, six terraces and five wood-burning fireplaces. A reception gallery with a wet bar, leads to a living room with a wood-burning fireplace and views up and down Park Avenue. The famed corner library has gleaming red laquer walls (the Real Estalker Mama chillingly described them as looking as if they are "dripping the blood of the under-privileged"), a wood-burning fireplace and French doors opening onto two terraces. The formal dining room also has a wood-burning fireplace and French doors leading out to a terrace. The kitchen includes a pantry, service hall, and three maid's rooms, a set-up which worked well in Mrs. Astor's days but might now be reconfigured into a large eat-in kitchen and family room for today's owner. There is an additional bedroom that can be used as a maid's room or reconfigured to be a second bedroom with ensuite bath. The private quarters include a sitting room with terrace, a separate powder room, and guest bedroom. At the end of the hall is in a corner room with a lovely wood-burning fireplace, terrace, and views toward Central Park. There are 20 closets. This co-op is listed at $46 million.

Only the very, very wealthy can apply to get into the Rosario-Candela-designed 778 Park Avenue co-op. As Max Abelson of the NY Observer pointed out, any potential owner will have to put 100% down and show more than enough cash to pay the steep monthly maintenance of $17,251.

Italian coffee company illycaffè has created a new easier way to make your espresso. Their new system is called iperEspresso (hyper espresso) and this month Illy is launching the Francis Francis X7 with iperEspresso, a capsule system that uses a two-phase preparation process to create the perfect shot of espresso. The first step is hyperinfusion, in which the coffee and water come into contact under optimal pressure conditions, followed by the emulsion process, in which the coffee passes through a valve to form a rich and velvety crema (the thin layer of foam at the surface of the espresso). The iperEspresso's crema yields more volume and height than a traditional shot and can last up to fifteen minutes as compared to the average espresso's five minutes. The coffee never comes into direct contact with the machine so cleaning the machine is far easier. IperEspresso has been released commercially and is currently used in restaurants including Le Bernardin and Nobu, as well as at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The new system is available in the popular Francis Francis X7 machine for a special intro price of $395 and the Francis Francis X8 is available for a special rate of $495. The coffee in the iperEspresso capsule is the same used in the cans and in café espresso and is available in two different roasts: medium and dark as well as decaffeinated capsules .A 21-serving container of capsules is $15.95