It’s that time of year again, when the cold starts to break and warmer weather gradually begins to grace us with its presence.As the seasons change, we often seek out and welcome food and drink that reflects our surroundings.When things start to heat up, our desire for beverages that quench our thirst and cool us off grows exponentially with the increase in temperature.In a world filled with slushies and punches, there is one classic cocktail that has been helping us usher in Spring and Summer for centuries: Sangria
Cliff Richard, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, Jon Bon Jovi, Sting, Michael Hucknall, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Dave Matthews, Sara Evans, Maynard James Keenan, Nicole Scherzinger, Kylie Minogue, John Legend… the list of musicians that, either have collaborated with or downright own wineries, is extensive. Why is that? There must be some sort of connection that unites musicians and wines. When you take a closer look, you realize that both industries bear some of the same emotions (passion is one of them),and share some of the same goals; trying to create a ‘harmonious’ product showing some complex ‘notes’ for instance.
In the sherry region, they also have their own musical art form, flamenco (speaking of emotional performances!), which emerged at the end of the 18th century in cities and agrarian towns of Baja Andalusia, highlighting Jerez de la Frontera as its hometown. Flamenco magisterially incorporates poetry, singing (cante), guitar playing (toque), dance (baile), polyrhythmic handclapping (palmas), and finger-snapping (pitos), all embodying a complex musical and cultural tradition. [On November 16th, 2010, UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]. Flamenco music styles are called palos in Spanish. There are over 50 different palos (although some of them are rarely performed), which are based on several musical and non-musical criteria such as their basic rhythmic pattern, mode, chord progression, the form of the stanza, or geographic origin, and characterized by a recurring pattern of beats and accents.
FLAMENCO AND SHERRY
Flamenco performers have been an iconography used in sherry labels for a long time, lavishly illustrated in full color with scenes of local festivities sometimes accompanied by a guitarist or bullfighters. These beautiful labels reached their peak at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries.
Every year in February, Jerez de la Frontera celebrates the international Flamenco Festival that attracts thousands of aficionados and professionals from all over the world. The festival, which lasts for two weeks, has a main program consisting of first-class flamenco shows across various selected venues and specific flamenco courses for all levels. The interaction of the music with the wines is inescapable, and the tastes and aromas of ancient sherries and manzanillas blend with the sights of impressive bodegas and the heart-touching and hypnotic broken beat of flamenco music. Flamencologist and Sherry Educator José María Castaño Hervás has studied and matched the different palos of flamenco with the diversity of sherry wine styles; Fino and Bulerías from Jerez, Amontillado and the Bulería por Soleá, Oloroso and Soleá, Palo Cortado and the Seguiriya and Cream and Fandango, to name a few. Here is an example of his brilliant thesis:
PALO CORTADO AND THE SEGUIRIYA
Palo cortado: somewhat shrouded in mystery due to its irregular aging. As a general rule, it ‘delivers’ more than what is actually sought after. Amber-colored with golden highlights and an intense, nutty bouquet reminiscent of toasted almonds and hazelnuts, enrobed with notes of old wood. It has an intense and persistent palate, with toasted nuances.
Seguiriya: of all the songs and guitar-playing styles of flamenco, this one reflects a mysterious irregularity in its verses. It expresses pain with intensity and persistence, with full-bodied expression and, just like a good palo cortado, needs a generous amount of rebellion to become what it is.”
According to our dear Josep Roca (sommelier of the El Celler de Can Roca*** restaurant and an expert in the subject), the combination of the two elements “brings together seduction, bewitchment, roots and mystery. The wines of Jerez have the same complexity as the palos of flamenco.”
SHERRY & MUSIC
At Lustau, we also have our take on comparing sherry wines with music genres. Our path takes us once again on an international tour; if we don’t shy away from recommending these wines to go with virtually every cuisine in the world, we are not going to do less when it comes to pairing them up with music. We believe that the enormous diversity of wines styles can cover a large melodic universe. We have put together a series of playlists (about 2 hours long) for you to listen to while enjoying each of your favorite wines.
Check out these below (Click the image bellow to open Spotify)
I was about to submit this article when Jancis Robinson’s weekly newsletter suddenly hit my inbox on the morning of November 19th. I was nicely surprised to see a report on the 1975 (my birth year) top-Bordeaux tasting that she recently attended in London. But, I got even more excited when I spotted a post on Music and Wine! The republished text (originally from May 2016) was written by classical-music agent and wine lover Robert Slotover. The content embraces several anecdotes involving some of the most well-known classical composers and their relationship with wine, and ends with this quote below, great timing JR!
‘Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.’ Beethoven
