Magazine of the Week: Noble Rot #2

Dan and Mark, the guys behind Noble Rot, came to our last Printout evening and showed me a copy of their first issue. I like my wine, so a new independent wine magazine was always going to attract my attention, but this really stuck with me. The magazine was flawed – the design needed work – but it had some great editorial ideas (ever wanted advice on what wine to sip while listening to Kraftwerk?) So when issue two arrived sporting a reworked layout I took some copies to sell at the Monocle Summer Fayre and it was a sell-out. And rightly so – Noble Rot avoids the clichés of most wine writing and makes this most snob-laden subject lively and interesting.

The subtitle (Wine, Music, Food, Life) tells the reader a little more about what to expect, and Louise Sheeran’s illustrations and the better layout have improved the magazine immeasurably. Still some way to go before being really beautiful, perhaps, but as with any new launch this is a work in progress and the visual shift evident between issues one and two promises much for number three.

Alongside the more traditional subjects such as ‘Red wine with fish’ there are intriguing stories of French wine terrorism, a crtitique of sexual innuendo used in wine reviews and the phenomenon of celebrity DJs turning chefs is investigated.

This second issue of Noble Rot is a pocket-sized 68-page black and white magazine but has great potential to grow. Support them now!

You can buy Noble Rot for £5 plus postage from our shop.

You can also subscribe to our Magazine of the Week strand via your Little Printer.
Details here.