Tag: Guest post

Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #18 – David Crossley

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In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

Our guest for the 18th installment of the Frankly Wines and Friends Wine & Music Series is a fellow English wine enthusiast and blogger, David Crossley.  David started his blog just after me, though he has a long involvement in the wine scene.  I enjoy reading his pieces as his writing is so easy to read and takes you on a journey; heck, I’d probably read his review of knitting patterns if he was so minded.

The song I chose for David was based on his recent Instagram “location” – Road to Nowhere – which I assume is a reference to our current lockdown but also referencing the Talking Heads song – which I still have on 7″ single somewhere.  It wasn’t the first Talking Heads song I heard but it was the one which cemented my appreciation of them and their amazing lunatic singer David Byrne.

David and I share an appreciation for Alsace, though his is much more focused on the natural wines produced in the north of the region.  When looking through the wines he had reviewed previously there was one that jumped out – an old vine Sylvaner.  Sylvaner is an under-appreciated grape but can be wonderful in the right hands, especially when made from old vines.  The odd but funny thing for me is that this wine is labelled “Vieille Vigne” singular – are the wines of such small production because they come from a single vine?  Perhaps, but probably not…

When Frankie asked me to contribute to this Series of wine and music connections I think I initially misunderstood the brief, but looking at the track and the wine he sent me I saw a real connection between the two, so I thought I’d subvert the usual format (which he will think is typical me) and write about the two together.

Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere

I became a Talking Heads fan after seeing them perform Psycho Killer on the Old Grey Whistle Test, and I managed to see them in London a couple of times when they subsequently visited the UK (Fear of Music and Remain in Light Tours). Road to Nowhere is from their sixth (1985) album, Little Creatures, by which time MTV had magnified their stardom.

The song is very David Byrne, beginning with the lyric “Well, we know where we’re going but we don’t know where we’ve been”. A poppy number, The Heads in marching beat with a bit of Cajun squeeze adding a jauntiness, and you can just see Byrne dad-dancing down a long and empty road in somewhere like Utah. A classic single, when singles meant something (peaking at Number 6).

Domaine Rietsch Sylvaner Vieille Vigne

Credit: David Crossley

Jean-Pierre Rietsch is a member of the “Mittelbergheim School”, named after a village in Alsace’s Bas-Rhin department. This part of Alsace has always been unloved by the older wine writers who pin whatever Alsace passion they have on the tourist villages to the south, around Colmar. But not only is Mittelbergheim a centre of excellence and excitement in the renaissance of the region through its emerging natural wine scene, it is also hosts some of the best sites for that much maligned member of the Alsace grape family, Sylvaner.

Jean-Pierre’s VV version is a multi-vintage wine, the one I have before me being blended from the 2015 and 2016 vintages. It’s a natural wine, fermented with ambient yeasts, aged on its lees and bottled with minimal sulphur. What you get is concentrated and mineral. If you want to try French Sylvaner at its very best, take the step up to his cuvée from the Zotzenberg Cru, the finest site in the country for this variety. But the “Vieille Vigne” really isn’t far behind. Fresh acids and texture dominate, but it’s clean, pure, and alive, yet with depth as well.

For the old timers pondering the (undoubted) glories of Hugel and Trimbach down south, the wine route up to Andlau, Mittelbergheim and beyond really does seem like the road to nowhere. But anyone familiar with Alsace natural wine from the bars of London, Berlin, Tokyo, San Francisco, Paris and beyond will know that this is where the excitement lies. The wild frontier lies even further to the north these days, but there’s no doubt that Alsace is really happening. Get too stuck in and you will be on the road to (financial) ruin.

David Crossley

David turned his obsession with wine into a blog, wideworldofwine.co in 2014, after a number of years as co-organiser of the Oddities wine events. These, and the blog, focus on the wider reaches of the wine world where boundaries are pushed and new ideas and philosophies tested. His passions are probably Jura, Austria and Alsace’s natural wines, with growing interest in Czechia and Alt-Mosel. You can also find him on Twitter and Instagram.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
18 David Crossley Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere Dom. Rietsch Sylvaner Vieille Vigne
17 Mitchell Young Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness Montirius Vacqueyras “Garrigues”
16 Brad Horne Oasis – Champagne Supernova Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling
15 Liam Mycroft Eric Clapton – Bad Love Bodegas Garzon Albariño
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah

 

Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #17 – Mitchell Young

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In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

For installment 17 of the series, the friend of Frankly Wines is a Welshman with a huge passion for Spanish food and wine, Mitchell Young.  When discussing his taste in music he mentioned bands from the 60s right up to the 2020s, but one period / movement that caught my eye was the ‘”Cool Cymru” contributions of the Manics, Stereophonics and Catatonia’ as I have several albums by these bands and have seen the Manics and Stereophonics live.

By a country mile my favourite Manics song is “Motorcycle Emptiness” which I bought as a 12″ single (that’s vinyl, for youngsters!)  Like most people who have a passing interest in these things, I always presumed that it was played on his Gibson Les Paul Standard, but was actually played on a Fender Telecaster Thinline – check out this YouTube video.

Enough of the guitar geekery and onto the wine.  As mentioned, Mitchell is a big fan of Spanish wines, but he is also partial to a good Rhône red, and over the past few years I have noticed him tweeting about a producer that he and I both like: the biodynamic specialist Montirius from the heart of the southern Rhône.  Among their wines that I’ve tried it’s their Vacqueyras that I enjoyed most, so that was my pick for Mitchell!

Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness

I’d like to thank Frankie for this opportunity to talk about two of my favourite things, music and wine.

The song Frankie choose for me was, “Motorcycle Emptiness” by the Alternative Rock band, Manic Street Preachers. The song was released in 1992 and was the fifth single of their debut album, “Generation Terrorists”. It was later included in the, “Forever Delayed” greatest hits album. The song was written by the four original band members; Richey Edward was to go missing in 1995, and the song is seen as a commentary on capitalism and the choices it affords to young people and the conformity it demands of them.

The “Manics” formed in Oakdale Comprehensive School in South Wales in 1986. The area, like much of industrial Britain was suffering the economic turmoil of the 1980’s and in particular from the Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985. The band never seem to have forgotten their roots and don’t seem to have flown far from the nest if regular sightings of James Dean Bradfield walking his dog near where I live is anything to go by.

I’ve been lucky enough to see them perform a number of times, once supported by Catatonia, a really, “Cool Cymru” evening.  The band have achieved global success with thirteen albums, the pick, for me, being their fifth album, “This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours”, which contains the track, “If You Tolerate this Your Children Will Be Next” a song inspired by the Welsh volunteers who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War”.

The band have firmly established as one Wales can be proud of musically, politically and culturally.

What to drink with this song? It didn’t take me long to settle on Gran Cerdo, “Big Pig”, Tempranillo. The producer, Gonzalo Gonzalo Grijalba is another “alternative”, the wine being biodynamic and natural. The wine appears to be technically a Rioja, it’s grown Rioja Alta, but Gonzalo prefers to bottle it as a Vino de España. Gonzalo is a man fiercely proud and protective of his family vineyards and its terroir.

Gonzalo’s father became ill working the vineyards during the 1970s due to his exposure to the chemicals widely used then. Gonzalo set out to not suffer the same fate as his father and set a path to produce a natural product. Much like the Manics, Gonzalo wanted to make different choices and step out of conformity. The wine’s label is a less than subtle reference to the lack of support he received from the bankers, pigs with their mouth stuffed with money, when he began this project.

The wine itself delivers a burst of dark red fruits with a hedgerow, forest floor background. Some spice, acidity and tannins make this a beautiful wine to drink. A lovely purple colour, slightly cloudy due to its biodynamic and natural production methods, with no hint of oak being produced in concrete vats. The wine appears to be developing a cult following.

I like to think the Manics and Gonzalo would really get on.

Domaine Montirius Garrigues Vacqueyras

The wine Frankie chose for me was Vacqueyras Garrigues Le Domaine Montirius, a great choice. A quick rummage through my wine “collection” revealed bottles going back to 2008 mostly bought directly from the domaine.

The wine is a fantastic example of what the Southern Rhone has to offer. Another wine produced in concrete vats using Grenache and Syrah. A deep, rich red wine with a burst of red fruits, beautiful tannins and with aromas of the “garrigue”, the herb scented scrub, that can still be found between the vineyards of the area. Another biodynamic wine with the vineyard having “converted” to biodynamics in 1996 the wine offers both characteristics of traditional Rhône wines and is an example of how new thinking will push the area forward in the future.

I first discovered Montirius in an independent wine store in Brighton, now sadly closed, and became a firm fan from the off. It was also my introduction to biodynamic wine. Its discovery coincided with a long series of family holidays to France which developed into over a decade of annual trips to the Vaucluse in Provence. The vineyards of Montirius are found here overlooked by the Dentelles and the sleeping giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux. The visit to the vineyard was always saved for the second week and always consisted of a very generous tasting session and early on I was lucky enough to be shown around by the wine maker Eric Saurel himself. When I met him, his hands were black with wine stains and he offered me an elbow which, being less Covid savvy greetings wise in those days, I think I shook!

By the time I recounted this to my boys, who were small at the time, his fingers had become vines. I think they believed me for a while. Listening to Eric tell me all about biodynamics, how the water used in making the concrete vats had stones from the vineyards left in it so it could absorb something of the terroir, how each of the vats was “earthed” into the bedrock with copper wires, how thought was given to the orientation of the buildings and so on. He may have been making some of it up but I was sold. If this much love went into making the wine it had to be great.

What to listen to with this wine? It didn’t take me long to settle on, “Omaha” by Counting Crows. Like the wine I can remember hearing this song for the first time and like the wine I was fan from that point on.

The band were formed in Berkley, California, in 1991. This song is from their first album, “August and Everything After”, released in 1993. I first saw them the year after in the Newport Leisure Centre and have seen them on every major European tour they’ve undertaken since. The band are a real ensemble of consummate musicians who have gone on to produce seven studio albums. It’s always a long wait between albums, but for me they’ve never bettered this album, being, like all subsequent albums, driven by lead singer Adam Duritz’s highly emotive and deeply personal lyrics. I love the whole album but this is the stand out track for me.

What’s the link to the wine? Spending three weeks in a car travelling the length of France, stopping typically in Reims, Valence and Nimes on the way down and Dijon and Arras on the way back meant music choices were of vital importance, with a CD player being the height of technology. With two adults, two children, everything they needed to bring with them, far too many clothes and space for wine on the return journey the number of CDs was limited to how many could be stored in the armrest storage. Much discussion took place but the Counting Crows CDs were a given for all four of us. The music, the journey, the vineyard and the wine will forever be linked.

It’s been a few years since we’ve undertaken the trip but we are planning on doing it next year Covid restrictions willing. If we do make it one thing is certain, we’ll be listening to “Omaha” visiting Montirius and drinking their Vacqueyras.

Mitchell Young

A Barry boy now residing in Cardiff, Mitchell has been married to Debbie for 32 years (she still can’t believe her luck.) They are lucky enough to have two boys who are both History graduates, which makes for some niche conversations over Sunday Lunch. He took early retirement from Primary School teaching which has given him even more time to pursue his interests of wine, food, travel and pottering about on an allotment. He has a real interest in Sherry (the best value wines in the world) and the wines of the Southern Rhône. He is also a keen cook and has a passion for Spanish food which has been encouraged by the boom in excellent tapas bars and Spanish restaurants in the Cardiff area.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
17 Mitchell Young Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness Montirius Vacqueyras “Garrigues”
16 Brad Horne Oasis – Champagne Supernova Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling
15 Liam Mycroft Eric Clapton – Bad Love Bodegas Garzon Albariño
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah

 

Make Mine A Double

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #16 – Brad Horne

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In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

The sweet sixteenth contributor to The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series is social media legend Brad Horne, aka Wine Time London.  He presents an Instagram show “Wine Social” with a dazzling array of wine guests, often winemakers from the other side of the globe. 

Among his musical preferences he mentioned “dad rock” which could actually mean several things, but I took it to mean bands such as Status Quo Oasis from the Brit pop era.  Although a total cliché now and definitely overplayed, I was going to pick Wonderwall for him before I twigged the obvious choice of a song with a wine-related title: Champagne Supernova.

The wine pick for Brad was even easier as recently we had both been waxing lyrical about a certain Aussie Riesling: Petaluma’s Hanlin Hill Riesling.

Oasis – Champagne Supernova

The song Frankie chose for me was Champagne Supernova, but the wine I’m going to pair with is not Champagne; I was close to an English Sparkling wine pairing but I’ve gone for something from Down Under: Jansz Premium Cuvée always hits the spot for me, just like Oasis.

Oasis takes me back to my adolescence with friends at gigs and nights out thinking we would ‘live forever’.

This wine with its citrus notes and slight aromas of roasted nuts plus those wonderful hints of strawberry from the Pinot Noir and that lingering creaminess on the finish almost take you ‘half a world away’ or to an Aussie Sparkling Supernova In the sky…

Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling

With its lively acidity and rich palate, Petaluma Hanlin Hill Clare Valley Riesling takes you on a journey, and as this wine ages it evolves like us, developing more character and flavours. To match it I’ve therefore chosen Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Never Going Back Again‘.

Young – with citrus and orange blossom flavours – or aged, with petrol notes – this Riesling (like so many of its Clare Valley counterparts) is wonderful, and like this song you think about Fleetwood at the start young in love and free and as it develops like Riesling it changes and ‘goes it’s own way’.

This vineyard was planted in 1968 and has west-facing slopes 550 meters above sea level. It produces grapes with slatey minerality – this region is perfect for growing great Riesling!

Thanks so much to Frankie; wine and music can go hand in hand, so next time you sit down for a glass of Riesling turn on this song and ‘Dreams’….

Brad Horne

Brad(ley) Horne is a Social Media and Marketing consultant for the Wine Industry.  He helps wineries and the wine trade with wine events, Social media and Marketing in the UK. He is active on Twitter under both @BradleyHorne and @winetimelondon but his busiest outlet is Instagram under @winetimelondon where his show WineSocial live goes out at 8.00pm UK time.

 

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
16 Brad Horne Oasis – Champagne Supernova Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling
15 Liam Mycroft Eric Clapton – Bad Love Bodegas Garzon Albariño
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #15 – Liam Mycroft

admin

In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

Our 15th guest contributor in The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series is someone with an accent that is hard to pin down, but that makes perfect sense when you head his bio!  Liam came into wine geekery later than some others but has been making up for lost time, devouring wine knowledge (and wine bottles?) at a hectic pace.  After meeting at several consumer tastings he joined us in the Dublin North Side (DNS) Wine Club despite being a southsider.  After a few tastings he threw hit hat into the ring to present a tasting, and the favourite of the group that night is the Garzon which I picked for him below.

For music I picked a track from an artist we both love – Eric Clapton – but not one of the most obvious.  Bad Love is from his long hair period and is definitely more rock than blues, but it’s a classic.

It is with excitement and trepidation that I answer the request from Frankie to play a part in the wonderful Music and Wine Collaboration series. Excited to be asked, for sure, but the trepidation comes from following such illustrious giants from the Wine Gliteratti as James Hubbard & Jim Dunlop amongst a host of others. Frankie asked me a few weeks ago, but I had been tied up on a work project, meaning I didn’t have a lot of spare time to do justice to the cause, and lo and behold, the literary, musical and all round Wino genius, Lee Issacs, got in before me with his wonderfully descriptive scribblings. While Lee and I have never met in person, largely due to the present travel restrictions we find ourselves in, we share a common love of Argentina, and we both found our life partners roaming the Pampas, and this might explain our mutual love of Malbec, more of that to follow, as I now have to follow his words…

My musical tastes are very eclectic. Something to do with my advancing years, in that they range from the 60’s, the Beatles obviously (far better than the Stones!), through my formative years of the 70’s, with psychedelic sounds, before punk emerged, followed by a constant return to the 70’s as I got stuck in a time warp of music from that era. I still listen every week to Johnny Waler’s Sounds of the 70’s every Sunday afternoon. I have had a detour in recent years to embrace Country Music, yes, I know! It all came about from spending a few months working every year in the US back in the ’90s, and I fell for it… But I digress…

Eric Clapton – Bad Love

The Track that Frankie selected for me comes from one of my All Time Heroes, Slow Hand himself, Eric Clapton. Perhaps one of his lesser known tracks, from the 1989 Journeyman Album, “Bad Love”. Although it charted around the world, you don’t often hear it on the radio, and to be honest, although I have the album, I had forgotten the track over time. A pleasure to be reacquainted, and the lyrics rang very close to home. (This is where I turn sloppy and sentimental, which features from here on in, sorry).

The lyrics talk about being sad for the lonely people who walked through life alone for so long, as I did, but now having found their one true love, there would be no more Bad Love in their lives. This resounds with me, having met my wife late in life, after a failed marriage, and relationships in my younger days, but with all that behind me, having met Paula, my Argentine Rose, this song has new meaning.

Obviously as it reflected my life and how I had found my “Good Love” in Argentina, the wine I have selected to pair with the song, to remind me of every glorious moment, is of course, an Argentine Wine. Having been able to live just outside Buenos Aires for four years between 2009 and 2013, wines from the country became a staple, and I fell in love with Malbec as well as the woman.

I have selected a Malbec available here in Ireland, from Kaiken, ironically headed up by a Chilean, Aurelio Montes, from the Uco Valley in Mendoza. A truly memorable wine, the Kaiken Ultra Malbec is bright red in colour with an intense aroma emanating of spice and floral elegance, before the black fruits, so typical in a quality Malbec shine through. Smooth, soft tannins give way to a lengthy finish, and take me back to sitting outside in Buenos Aires as my brother in law stoked the Parilla (BBQ) and cooked an Asado to be washed down by a smooth Malbec.

Bodega Garzón Albariño

Of course, the journey doesn’t stop here, and Frankie, knowing my affection for South America, has selected an Albariño from Bodega Garzón in Uruguay for me to come up with a musical side dish to accompany this maritime delight. Albariño wines from Rías Baixas and Galicia have become very popular in Ireland in the past few years, and this Uruguayan version certainly reaches the giddy heights of the top Albariño’s Worldwide.

Pale yellow in colour, with a greenish tinge in the glass, on the nose the peachy summer fruit comes forward, with a hint of salinity, taking me to the seaside, and seafood. Citric flavours mingle with the pear in the mouth, and a long aftertaste reminds me of the smell of seaweed and brine as you walk along a coastline.

For some strange reason, my sentimentality came back to me every-time I thought about a musical pairing to go with this wine. The sea-salt took me to the Ocean, and a more local musician, with a song, not really about the ocean at all, but about life being a Voyage, and to Christy Moore, and his wonderful rendition of the Johnny Duhan penned song. The song talks about how life is an ocean, and love is a boat, and through troubled waters it keeps us afloat.

I’m not sure how a few bottles of Albariño would fare as we sail through life, but it took me back to finding my true love back in Argentina, and how we sailed the ocean back to Ireland (Ok, we flew, but its far more romantic to think of the journey being in a boat – romantic licence), and here we are, gathering around us our own crew of friends, making our life complete.

So there you have it. Two songs, two wines. The wines are linked, being both from South America, but the songs are dramatically different in their style, but are linked by their appreciation of Love and Life, hope you stayed the course.

Liam Mycroft

Having set sail for Liverpool as a 5 year old, before returning home at 40 plus, Liam has lead a roaming life, taking him from County Down to Dublin, via Liverpool, Salford, San Diego, Rhode Island, and Buenos Aires. He is a Civil Servant by day, and in recent years, a wine nerd at night and weekends. After a lifetime of living a cliché of drinking the same wines, because he liked them, upon his return from Argentina in 2013, he decided to learn more about the Grape, taking a local course with Leslie Williams, which enthused him to go down the road of the WSET exams, and, so far, he has passed Levels 2 and 3 with Merit. Next up for this self-confessed nerd is the Italian Wine Scholar Programme, as he has fallen in love with the myriad of wines from the Boot of the Mediterranean, and aims to kick on with his knowledge in the future, sharing his views via Twitter (@Liam3494) and blogging his personal wine thoughts at www.thelongwineroad.com.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
15 Liam Mycroft Eric Clapton – Bad Love Bodegas Garzon Albariño
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #14 – Lee Isaacs

admin

In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

For the 14th episode of The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series we head back to England with the irrepressible polymath Lee Isaacs.  Not only does this bloke live and breathe wine, he also has a fabulous collection of shirts and plays a mean axe!  By axe I mean guitar (and probably other instruments, knowing Lee).  If anyone was the most apt person to write a guest post in this series, it’s Mr Lee Isaacs.

Now I’m not a diehard aficionado of The Stones, but their standout track for me is Gimme Shelter.  This is the group that absorbed The Blues through imported LPs and ended up taking it back to the Americans, both in their own music and the limelight they shared with Blues legends.

Lee spreads the gospel about wine over several social media platforms – which gives us mere mortals an opportunity to enjoy his shirts and his music – but he’s also generous in praising other communicators including Katie Jones, so I thought this would be the perfect wine to pick for him.

I was chuffed when Frankie asked me to write a piece matching wine and music for his site, for two main reasons. Usually the only form of writing people ask me to do for them is filling in those legal forms the prevent me from playing the guitar within a ten mile radius, but also because wine and music are two of my greatest loves in life. They are both uniquely subjective and conjure up emotions and memories beyond our control. They have the power to weaken us at the knees or make us feel like anything is possible. Wine and music both have an incredible power over our soul and…I’ll stop; you get my drift.

The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter

Frankie’s opening musical gambit came in the form of The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter, from their 1969 album (also their best) Let It Bleed. The song sees Keef playing a portentous riff in open G while Mick Jagger and Merry Clayton trade ever darker lyrics about an impending storm of violence. This is The Stones at their very best; more than just dirty, grimy (so wrong, it’s right) blues, but deep and searing social commentary. The song is the death cry of 1960s peace and love and a dark vision of the dystopia that lay around the corner. It could have been written yesterday. Mick’s refrain of ‘If I don’t get some shelter, I’m gonna fade away’ could be any of us right now. It opens gently enough with an inviting, almost light, blues motif but it quickly builds to something much more brooding and enveloping. By the end of the song you need a breather, a chance to reflect on exactly what it all means.

But what wine to pair with this greatest of Stones tracks? Malbec may well be a superstar today, but that’s not always been the case. It was not Argentina’s most planted variety until 2006. In fact, previous to that it had been a bit of a workhorse, a variety that had yet to find it’s truest expression and was in danger of fading away without some shelter. That shelter was provided by Nicolás Catena Zapata. He gave it shelter by taking it as high as he could, planting his Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary at a breath taking altitude of 1,500 m.a.s.l. This was a call to arms for other producers to not only revisit Malbec but also to take on the challenge of high altitude grape growing. Nicolás saw a hard future ahead but made a stand and changed Argentine wine forever.

This Malbec is just as brooding and intense as Mick & Keef’s lyrics. It opens with a violet scented perfume while some subtle mineral notes invite you in before it quickly builds with deep black fruit and cassis flavours. Before you know it, you’re awash with dark chocolate, coffee, smoky vanilla and earthy spices. But then there’s a refrain; the violets and minerals reappear and bring you back from the blackcurrant precipice as you realise that perhaps there’s more to everything than it first seemed. By the end of the bottle one can only sit and reflect.

Domaine Jones Fitou

Frankie took his opening gambit and doubled down with the classic ‘Fitou Strategem’ first used by Francis of Gaul all those years ago. It’s a fine call as I’m a fan of the inimitable Katie Jones and her magnificent wines. It’s well documented that Katie met with some rather unfriendly locals who doubted her commitment & motivations. This only further emboldened Mrs Jones in her quest, and today she makes characterful wine with a huge sense of place. Katie takes a central theme for each wine she makes and then slowly and confidently builds to a wonderful driving crescendo.

This Fitou is a blend of Grenache, Syrah & Carignan with some of the contributing vines being over 100 years old. This brings to the wine an incredible concentration of deeply structured figgy, spicy and smoky fruit. There’s a wonderful rusticity to the wine; it’s filled with garrigue, warm herbs, roasting meats and the most alluring black fruits…all supported by melt in the mouth tannins and a fine seam of acidity. It feels like this wine, its style, its flavours, its structure…it feels like its always been here. Every time you drink it, you wonder why you drink anything else.

Led Zeppelin also met with some backlash. Indeed it’s the very origin of their name. They remained steadfast, and, building on the history that lay before them, they built something new and wonderous. It’s easy to get caught up in Stairway but Led Zep IV’s When The Levee Breaks is one of those tracks that is absolutely magical & timeless.

It is of course driven by the eternal, powerful & mesmerising drum work of John Bonham. That sound, that rhythm…it’s always been here, since the beginning of time. Jimmy Page eschews the standard I-IV-V blues tradition, instead opting for a modal approach. He takes a central theme and builds, builds, builds, to an incredible and long lasting crescendo. This song has history but also incredible depth and sophistication. Like Fitou it’s often overlooked in favour of more prestigious and well known names…but this just keeps getting better and better. Every time you hear it, you wonder why you listen to anything else.

Lee Isaacs

Lee has been around wine since the age of 5 and when he turned 18, he passed up a place at university to study law and politics in favour of working in the wine trade. His bank manager has still not forgiven him. An Oddbins refugee, he ran one of the UK’s best indies for 5 years before becoming Head of Education for Oxford’s oldest wine school. A WSET Diploma holder, Lee has taught and lectured all over the world for MWs and MSs. Widely travelled, he specialises in Argentina, a country he visits almost every year, and Italy, a country he has travelled around extensively. Published by a variety of media, Lee continues to educate, entertain and immerse himself in the world of wine, running around 100 tastings every year (pre-Covid obvs). He now works for a multinational business in training, buying and marketing. When not doing something with wine he can be found failing to play the guitar and writing dreadful stand up comedy.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #13 – Sharon L

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In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

The latest installment of The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series is hosted by new California resident Sharon L.  Though she calls herself a diva on her social media handles she is knowledgeable on wine and fun to talk to.

On discussing this guest post she mentioned that she likes lots of different kinds of music, including hip hop.  Though I am far from an expert on the genre – despite avidly devouring all the episodes of Hip hop evolution on Netflix – there are some tracks which feature heavily on my playlists.  One such track is 93 ‘Til Infinity by Souls of Mischief.  I originally discovered this as part of the excellent Another Late Night compilation by Zero 7.  As suits the idea of late night listening, it’s a very laid back “head-nodding” track, not too far removed from the trip hop of Massive Attack and Tricky in style.

When it came to wine, there was an amazing wine that Sharon had tweeted about in the last few months: Penfolds RWT.  RWT stands for Red Winemaking Trial which was an experiment that went right.  Whereas their flagship Grange is made from parcels all over South Australia and matured in American Oak, RWT is just from one region – the Barossa Valley – and is matured in French oak.  It is made to be drunk a little younger than Grange and is released earlier, but it is still a monumental wine.

I was very excited when Frankie approached me for a wine and music guest post. Wine is so evocative for me, and so is music. Pairing the two felt only natural. I love nothing better than to come home after a long day and pop a favorite old school vinyl into my record player, while sipping on a glass of vino.

Souls Of Mischief’ – 93 ‘Til Infinity

To be honest, the first time I heard Souls Of Mischief’s 93 ‘Til Infinity was when Frankie sent it to me for this article (I was still living in China when it came out and a bit too young), but I was immediately hooked – the smooth beats, the “chill-ness” of the song – just made me want to sit back, relax, and not think too much about anything at all. This is why I think it pairs perfectly with a natty wine like Broc Cellars Chenin Blanc.

Broc Cellars makes exclusively “natural” – think spontaneous fermentation, unfiltered, unfined wines – from organic grapes. They are an urban winery operating out of a warehouse building in Berkley. Chris Brockway, the winemaker, produces some of the most interesting and unique wines in California today, with grapes both familiar (Zinfandel) and obscure (Counoise).

Broc’s chenin is flavorfully complex but well balanced, with floral and fresh summer fruit notes and refreshing acidity on the finish. It’s the absolute summer porch sipper, or pounder, if you will. I don’t think it would be difficult imagining the wine as an embodiment of Souls Of Mischief: the producer of chill beats and smooth complicated rhyme flows. Moreover, they both all from Northern California! But again, I have been known to make eccentric analogies. Both wine and music are subjective, after all.

Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2008

The wine Frankie picked is none other than the Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2008. I happened to have bought 2 of them of 5 years ago. I opened a bottle in 2015, and the other this year. It’s amazing to see this wine develop over time. The flavors of dark chocolate, moss, cigar, and earth were all present 5 years ago, but in such a tightly wound and sequestered state. However, this year the wine was ready for its full debut. Darker notes of peat, leather, tobacco leaves, and cigar box opened up after 1-2 hours of decanting into a supple, juicy number bursting with cherries, blueberries, plums, and chocolate, enrobing your tongue like plush velvet, ending with lasting, chewy tannins. It’s a plush, rich wine that would be most delicious with any bloody carnivorous meal.

The way Penfolds RWT crescendoed with time reminds me of the building up of psychological intensity in the song Blinding Lights by The Weeknd. You have to see the music video to understand fully (and please do watch it – it’s a masterpiece directed by Anton Tammi).

The Joker-esque short film begins with the singer speeding through empty streets in a city with his psyche progressively spinning out of control, until he ends up with gruesome slathering of blood dripping down his face. If you want to inject some intensity into your life, drink the Penfolds to the reel of Blinding Lights.

Sharon L

Sharon discovered the incredible world of wine while living in Cambridge, Massachusetts after college. Its boutique wine shops opened her eyes far beyond the realm of boring supermarket selections. Though far from being an expert, she enjoys learning about wines by traveling and drinking her around the globe. These days Sharon works as an Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon in Northern California. Outside of work, she is an intrepid adventurer; always on the hunt for interesting wines to drink, challenging activities to conquer, and new locales to explore. Depending on her mood, she can be a painter as well. You can find her on Twitter (DivaVinophile) and Instagram (Divavinophile) to share in her experiences.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #12 – Tim Milford

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In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

The twelfth installment of The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series is hosted by  Germanophile Englishman Tim Milford.  If I said that he likes to “blow his own trumpet” and dubs himself “The King of Wine” I would be correct; however, this would be in a literal sense only, as he is an orchestral trumpet player(!) and a total gentleman with a well developed sense of humour to boot. 

I am something of a philistine when it comes to classical / orchestral music – I know a few tunes that I like but that’s about it.  However, when choosing a piece for Tim there was one that immediately came to mind as it featured trumpets: Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. When I was young living at home with my parents this was a favourite of my dad’s so I heard it many times.

The easy option for the wine pick would have been German Riesling, but I side-stepped that and chose an English sparkling wine that I know Tim and I both hold in high estimation: Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée MV.  It’s a wine that I have been following for many years, with each successive vintage getting better.  Now that it is a multi-vintage it has stepped up even more.

I was delighted when Frankie asked me to contribute to his wine and music blog series, but also a little nervous as all of the other posts have been so good!

Frankie has chosen a classical theme for me, which I was really pleased about. I have been a trumpet player since I was eight years old and have been fortunate enough to play in some excellent bands and orchestras over the years. Music, just like wine, has been an amazing way for me to make friends and also to get to know more about the world that we live in.

My music taste is pretty eclectic, but I have always enjoyed classical music particularly. I think a good symphony is like test cricket (another one of my passions!) – the time that you have in this format allows you to appreciate the waxing and waning of the music, the development of intricate sub-plots within pieces. Whereas your average three minute rock or pop song is more like T20 cricket – it starts: crash, bang, wallop, it ends.

My favourite music in the classical space tends to be the bigger, grander, darker, more evocative music from the German and Russian masters: Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven, Shostakovich and Prokofiev; but in truth there is so much variety out there that you just feel blessed that all of these incredible people have created such beauty – exactly how I feel about wine!

So, on to my pairings!

Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée MV

Nyetimber-Our-Wines-Homepage-ClassicCuvee
Credit: Nyetimber

For the wine, Frankie selected for me Nyetimber’s Multi Vintage (MV) Classic Cuvée – a wine that I know very well and I knew straight away exactly where I was going to go for my music selection: Glenn Gould’s famous recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Why did I choose this? The Goldberg variations are a masterpiece of composition – combining moments of pure beauty, with complicated, intricate melodies and counter-melodies. But how does it make me feel when I listen to it? I often listen to this recording when I need to concentrate on something at work; it feels serene, it feels sophisticated, it feels masterly.

These are the kinds of feelings that I get when I think of Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée; it’s a wine of breathtaking refinement, with layers of texture to it that are all perfectly balanced to give an immensely pleasurable drinking experience. It is pretty well known now that good English sparkling wine is giving Champagne a proper run for its money – and Nyetimber is absolutely one of those producers that I would point to. That’s before we start looking at their vintage BdBs, which are simply spectacular.

There’s another reason that I wanted to choose Glenn Gould’s version of the Goldberg Variations – Gould was Canadian and I wanted to give a little nod to Nyetimber’s head wine makers, Cherie Spriggs and Brad Greatrix, Canadians themselves. Cherie and Brad have done wonderful things during their tenure at Nyetimber and I thought this would be a nice tribute to them.

Aaron Copland – Fanfare for the Common Man

For my musical selection, Frankie gave me Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” – a selection that I was delighted with! As a trumpet player, fanfares are always a fun experience to play, but the opening of this piece isn’t a fanfare in the sense that we might think of; it is altogether more refined. A lot of fanfares are designed to be regal and triumphal, this though seems to be a little less bombastic – which I guess is borne out in the piece’s name. This isn’t a piece celebrating the crowning of a king or a queen, but a celebration of the common man (and woman!).

I also like the structure of the piece, which builds layers as it goes through, starting with the timpani, followed by the trumpets; but then augmented by the rest of the brass section and more percussion players. When I listen to this piece there is something Olympic about it in the soaring notes for the trumpet, which sounds so powerful, so graceful, so majestic. Something that says: we have mastered this, we are in control and we know what we are doing.

The Milf
Credit: Tim Milford

So, what wine could I choose that gives you the same sentiment? I decided to pair this piece with a 2016 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir from the legends at Au Bon Climat in California. The wine is an absolute classic, coming from a coastal region in California it benefits from those sea breezes, which gives it a delicious freshness. It is fairly commonly observed that this is a wine made in a Burgundian style, which I think in this instance means that it has a poise and refinement, an elegance and class. It tantalises the tastebuds and excites the nostrils, but it does it all in a controlled and self-confident way. It is not over-the-top and showy, instead it sits there quietly exuding its grace and majesty.

This is a celebration of the majesty of Pinot Noir, one of the most loved and most temperamental grapes in the wine world. But it is a celebration held in a booth in a classy restaurant with fine food and fine wine, not a party held in some gaudy Mayfair nightclub favoured by those with too much money and too little class. The wines of Au Bon Climat are rightly revered for being right at the top of their game and this is no exception. A superb wine to match with a superb piece of music!

Tim Milford

Tim Milford is a project manager by day and an enthusiastic wine enthusiast by night! He is no expert when it comes to wine, but likes learning about the wine world one bottle at a time and has a particular penchant for German wine. Tim writes about wine (not as often as he would like) at www.vinspireuk.com and sometimes writes restaurant reviews (even less often, particularly recently) on his own website www.timmilford.com. You can find Tim on Twitter (@timmilford) and Instagram (@tjmilford), should you like to do those kinds of thing.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #11 – Mags McKee

admin

In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

For the eleventh edition of this series we are in the capable hands of Mags McKee, a great friend and fellow DNSer (even though she lives south of the Liffey) . Mags has a long held passion for wine and has taken it to the next level with The Wine Pair, a wine bar and shop she opened with her husband Canice.  When I quizzed Mags on her taste in music, among many things she mentioned both U2 and the Blues, so there was an immediately obvious choice: a fantastic track from U2’s Rattle & Hum album featuring guitar and vocals from Riley B. King, aka the King of the Blues BB King.  This was in fact the track that really turned me on to the blues and it has since been one of my favourite genres.

There were so many wines I’ve tasted with Mags at consumer and DNS tastings over the years that I was spoiled for choice. Running through the wine list of The Wine Pair to narrow it down, I spotted one of my favourite Austrian reds: Pittnauer Zweigelt “Heideboden”. I was lucky enough to meet Gerhard Pittnauer and taste through his wines a few years ago.

When Love Comes to Town – U2 with BB King

I was delighted when Frankie gave me my music choice When Love Comes to Town – U2 with BB King as I am a big fan of U2, with Rattle and Hum being one of my favourite U2 albums. I am also an avid Blues fan and love the edge that the King of the Blues brings to this version. I know it may seem weird to some but listening to Blues makes me happy.

Love coming to town automatically made me think of a sparkling wine and as this is a rock song with the addition of the wonderful BB King what better than a naturally sparkling Pétillant Naturel, or Pet Nat for short. Pet Nat is made in the ‘methode ancestrale’, i.e. bottled before primary fermentation has finished (i.e. with yeast still alive and sugar remaining)  which then continues to ferment in the bottle, finishing relatively dry with pleasantly frothy bubbles.

A great natural Pet Nat I have been enjoying recently and a firm favourite with The Wine Pair customers is the deliciously ripe and Dangerously drinkable, Tour de Gendres. Its frothy bubbles release delicious tart orchard fruit and citrus notes. The bright acidity balances the slight sweetness as it dances on the tongue reminding me of how we have boogied to this great song.

Chateau-Tour-des-Gendres-pet-nat

This interesting and fun to drink Pet Nat is made from predominantly Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc (30%) by Luc di Conti in Bergerac, Southwest France, close to Bordeaux. Luc farms biodynamically on his 54 hectare vineyard, located on the bank of the Dordogne River, and uses seaweed, and other natural resources, to nourish the soil. The de Conti family has run the farm here since the early 1900s, but only in 1986 did Luc de Conti and his brother, Jean, decide to plant the vineyard and embark on a new adventure of viticulture and winemaking. In 1994, they became the first in the region to move away from pesticides and chemicals and turn to 100 percent organic farming.

The grapes from low yielding vines are allowed to fully ripen and are manually crushed. Partial fermentation, with indigenous yeasts, is in stainless steel vats with final fermentation in the bottle. It is bottled without fining, filtering or the addition of sulphur making it vegan friendly and a little cloudy.

This is wonderfully drinkable, and would be a great alternative for Prosecco drinkers looking for something a little more interesting while still being easy and fun to drink and its only 11% ABV.

We usually have it as an aperitif but I think it would go great with Sushi or Smoked fish. My cheese pairing for this would be a goat’s cheese maybe a St Tola or Cooleeney, Gortnamona to bring even more love to town.

This bright vibrant wine certainly brings Love to Town for me and its fantastic label from is pretty cool too. If you haven’t tried it yet “catch that flame” and “jump on that train”.

Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden

Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden

My wine choice from Frankie, Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden, was again one my favourites so gave me a great excuse to drink more and think about my choice of music for this wine.

I am a big fan of the high quality wines coming from Austria and my first visit to Vienna was booked for the end of March this year. I was really looking forward to trying some great Austrian wines whilst there but it didn’t happen due to Covid-19. The disappointment of my cancelled trip is reflected in my music choice – Vienna Calling by Falco. The lively and glamorous song from 1985 was the follow on hit to his other big hit song Rock me Amadeus.

A Mozart piece may have been an obvious choice for this wine but my eclectic music choices are hugely influenced by the 80’s and I love electronic music. Falco and his music sits in the genre of West German Rock, Neue Deutsche Welle “New German Wave”) which is originally derived from post punk and new wave with electronic influences, so I’m sure the music scene in Austria in the mid 80s was greatly influenced by one of my favourite groups Kraftwerk. Anyway, there is a nod to a Viennese waltz at the start of the song.

In the mid 80s, while Falco was rocking Amadeus, the Austrian wine industry was rocking in the midst of scandal and chaos , Gerhard Pittnaur, then only 18, started the Weingut Pittnauer business in Burgenland in the eastern corner of Austria. He had to train himself to make wine and chose to farm the indigenous grapes of the region. He thinks to ‘grow’ wine rather than to ‘make’ it in the cellar. Gerhard and his wife Brigitte decided to create what they call living wines. All work is done manually from composting to pruning. There is no calendar that drives them. Nothing is rushed: they believe in quality over speed. They taste for perfect ripeness, select the cleanest grapes, and begin the wine in the cellar.

Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden is 100% Zweigelt. Zweigelt is the most popular red wine variety in Austria and originates from the crossing of St. Laurent with Blaufrankisch. It is characterised by its cherry fruit and a juicy, soft style. This wine is bursting with red cherries, blueberries, blackberries and plums with hints of violet and black pepper. It’s an elegant wine with a long complex finish. As Falco says ‘Oh o Ho’.

This is one of my go to wines for a cheese and meat platter as it pairs well with most cheeses and cured meats and its acidity stands up to any pickled accompaniments giving no taste clashes.

Platter

So Hello, Vienna is still calling me and I will get there but until I do I can still enjoy great Austrian wines.

Mags McKee

Mags is one half of The Wine Pair, the other being Canice (who, in an amazing coincidence, also has the surname McKee!)  They opened The Wine Pair late last year with the aim of providing an informal neighbourhood wine bar where people could relax with a favourite glass (or carafe, or bottle) and choose small cheese or charcuterie plates to pair with it.  They also offered the option of take-home sales and in these Covid-19 affected times they have been busy offering collection and local delivery.

As well as their website you can find The Wine Pair on Instagram or Twitter.  They also have their own Twitter accounts: Mags & Canice.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #10 – Cara Rutherford

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In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

My guest for this tenth post in The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series is Cara Rutherford, a great friend whose knowledge and passion for Italian wine and loud trousers really puts me in the shade (though I might have an advantage on loud shirts).  Cara and I have a lot in common when it comes to wine but even more when it comes to music – I think we are of a similar vintage, but I would never ask a lady her age!

The Cure’s music has defied easy categorisation over the years, but has encompassed goth (a term they dislike), straight up pop (Friday I’m In Love) and rock (Shake Dog Shake).  I’ve been a fan of The Cure since the late ’80s.  Initially it was Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea which I had on repeat and then Disintegration, the best album ever per Kyle Broflovski.  The previous album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me had passed me by somewhat, but my favourite track from that album – Just Like Heaven – was played all three times I’ve seen them in concert (1992, 2002 & 2019).  It manages to be a really hooky pop song while still preserving The Cure’s sensibility.  Check out this analysis by Rick Beato.

While Cara’s main vinous focus is Italy, she also reviews plenty of wines from other countries – especially if they are made a low intervention style.  I’ve already chosen one wine from Suertes del Marqués in this series, but as I’m such a fan of their wines and had the pleasure of meeting Jonatan Garcia Lima earlier this year, I thought I’d chose their fabulous ‘7 Fuentes’ red which Cara had already reviewed and was familiar with.

The Cure – Just Like Heaven

I was delighted when Frankie sent me ‘Just Like Heaven’ to pair with a wine for his Wine & Music Series. Even though I’ve only had the pleasure of hanging out with Frankie one fantastic evening, he clearly sussed out my post-punk origins and general angst vibes.

As a GenXer, the Cure is one of the bands that not only changed but assisted in formulating and developing who I am. Robert Smith’s lyrics introduced and beckoned me into the existential cosmos of Nietzsche, Sartre and Camus. A philosophy that became my backbone growing up in the wasteland of upstate NY.

The otherworld, velvet flanger layers of his guitar, his imploring, flirtatious, angst saturated voice and words, his cascade of birds’ nest hair. The avante-guard Tim Pope videos that allowed an innocent, silly facet to shine through.

And the memories, I could go on and on; the thousands of times I made my saint of a grandmother watch the nearly 2 hours of magnificence that is The Cure in Orange with me in the afternoons after school. She was from London, so I rationalized that she would of course want to watch it over and over and over again with me……stockpiling Mary Quant liquid eyeliner when in London [I had read in an interview somewhere that was the brand he used]…..the years I lived in Dublin where I had the opportunity to track down the 7” & 12” records with their cool pastel or translucent vinyl bearing the ultimate in Cure treasures; ethereal b-sides that were held in god-like esteem for those fortunate enough to have actually found them.

So back to the pairing. ‘Just Like Heaven’ was one of the Cure’s biggest singles, with many accolades and perhaps the song that officially established them in the States.

‘Just Like Heaven’ is a glistening love song filled with dizzying iconography and shimmering melody. Looking for the same character in a wine, I immediately knew it would be sparkling and French, rooted in devotion and otherworldliness. It had to be Jean-Christophe Jezequel ‘Mademoiselle’ Vin de France 2018.

mademoiselle18
Credit: Cara Rutherford

Jean-Christophe Jezequel passionately cares for his 5 hectares of old vine vineyards in Faverolles-sur-Cher in the Loire Valley. He recovered and rehabilitated old, abandoned vineyards with vines dating back to 1945, none of which have ever seen chemicals. His grapes traditionally were sold to iconic ancestral method/pet-nat winemakers Pascal Potaire and Moses Gadouche of Domaine Les Capriades. In 2019, he released his first wine, ‘Mademoiselle’ the 2017 vintage, on his own label. Just a year later, he has 5 more wines in production.

Grapes are from old vines in clay, sand, and silex over limestone soils, harvested at the beginning of September. Followed by direct pressing of the two varieties together, then fermentation in fiberglass vats with multiple rackings. After a month of fermentation, the wine is hand and gravity bottled in early October, aged a little over a year on its lees.

Coral pink in colour, with delicate aromas of strawberry, rose petal, dusty earth and a wisp of frankincense. Red currant, wild strawberry, lemon, hibiscus flower and chalky minerality are buoyed by packed, tiny bubbles and tangy acidity. Pink grapefruit and green apple linger on the fizzy, mineral driven finish. Bright, engaging and refined.

Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’

7f17
Credit: Cara Rutherford

Frankie’s wine choice was Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’ Valle de la Orotava DO 2017, a favourite of mine that holds a place in my ‘house wine’ rotation. Jonatan Garcia Lima has 11 hectares of vineyards on the slopes of Teide, an active volcano in the northern part of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

He is dedicated to low intervention, organic and sustainable practices in both the vineyards and cellar. 7 Fuentes is composed of 35 plots from area winegrowers and from the estate vineyards with vines ranging from 10 to 180 years old, at elevations 250 to 800 meters above sea level, in volcanic soils. Each plot is vinified separately. Fermented in concrete and stainless steel with native yeasts, 70% aged in concrete while the remaining 30% aged in used 500-liter oak barrels for nine months, unfined and unfiltered.

Dark ruby red in colour with engaging aromas of campfire, tarry earth, ash, grilled herbs, black cherry, candied violet and a wisp of burnt marshmallow. Silky layers of black cherry, raspberry, cranberry, red currant, clove, coriander, rose petal and grilled herbs are wrapped in saline minerality and drape across a framework of tangy acidity and firm tannins. Smoke, tarry earth crushed black peppercorn, roasted rosemary and baked cranberry linger on the plush finish. Striking, complex and velvety.

I felt only a Foo Fighters song would be able to echo the sinuous fusion of boldness and silky symmetry whirling through every sip of 7 Fuentes. Enter ‘The Line’, with exhilarating guitars, heart pounding drums and Dave’s legendary angst driven screams that meld seamlessly with blissful, dreamy melody and charged lyrics. Dave Grohl has stated that the song expresses “a search for hope in this day and age where you feel as if you’re fighting for your life with every passing moment, and everything is on the line.” The centuries old, braided vines set into a prehistoric, other planet looking environment of black volcanic earth at dizzying elevations have fought many battles and come out on the other side victorious.

Cara Rutherford

Cara Rutherford has been exploring and writing about wine for nearly a decade. Over the years her expertise has become razor-focused on Italian wines and the people who craft them. Having a Master’s in applied art and background in ancient art, she honed her art criticism and writing skills whilst working at Christie’s in New York City. Certified 3iC Central Italy Specialist, she is currently pursuing additional 3iC Specialist certifications [Italian International Indigenous Wine and Food Studies Center] under Ian D’Agata. Additionally, she holds a Highest Honors Italian Wine Scholar certificate, along with WSET 2 designation, with distinction. Check out her website caravino.net or follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah
Wine + Music

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series #9 – Melanie May

admin

In these unusual times, we all need a lift from time to time. As a change to my usual wine reviews I’ve decided to start a fun and irreverent series on matching wine and music. The basic idea is that I give participants:

  • A piece of music –> they suggest a wine to go with it, with an explanation
  • A wine –> they suggest a piece of music to go with it

It’s all for fun, so please don’t slag off anybody’s taste music (or wine!) Thanks to Michelle Williams for the inspiration – she has been matching songs to wine for years on her Rockin Red Blog.

Our ninth contributor to this series is the magnificent Melanie May.  Amongst other wines she mentioned that Riesling is her favourite white grape so of course I had to select an Alsace Riesling.  But not any Alsace Riesling, Sipp Mack’s Grand Cru Rosacker which has been a favourite of mine for the best part of a decade.  The 2011 was an amazingly big and heady vintage (at 14.0%!) which will remain in my top wines tasted, but the 2014 is a more elegant and subtle expression at 13.0%.  At around €30 in Ireland it is sensationally good value for money.

On the music side I chose a perennial favourite from the mid ’80s which straddled the rock and goth genres.  Billy Duffy’s powerful riffs help propel the song forward but for me it’s Nigel Preston’s pounding drums which really make the song excel.  This was Preston’s last track with The Cult, and didn’t even feature in the video as his replacement Mark Brzezicki featured instead.

Sipp Mack Alsace Grand Cru Rosacker Riesling 2014 

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Credit: Melanie May

When Frankie asked me to contribute to his wine and music blog series I jumped at the chance. Not only because it gives me an opportunity to combine my love of writing, wine and music, but also my love of psychology too.

A little background, I used to take photographs of musicians and travelled around the UK snapping bands like The White Stripes, Razorlight, Stereophonics and The Libertines. My life revolved around going to gigs and backstage parties. Of course, that rock and roll lifestyle is well behind me now but my love of music is still as strong as ever.

Nowadays, I am a food and drink and travel writer and I have a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines. Before becoming a full-time writer though, I was studying to become a Clinical Psychologist and did my dissertation in Neuroscience.

Through my studies in psychology, I became aware of how different sensory experiences complement each other. There has been a few studies showing how music effects the perception and taste of wine. Did you know that people will buy significantly more expensive wine if classical music is playing than if the Top 40 is on? Apparently classical music encourages consumers to look for quality wines. Try it in your wine shop and see!

So, this pairing wine and music challenge is right up my street! I love this stuff.

I told Frankie that Riesling was my favourite white. So, when he asked me to pair a song to the 2014 Sipp Mack Riesling Grand Cru Rosacker my mouth instantly started watering. I had not tried that particular wine before, but knowing Frankie’s love of Alsace wine, I knew this was going to be a cracker.

And I was right. What a beautiful wine.

On the nose, the wine is floral with loads of juicy apple and bright citrus notes and a hint of petrol coming through too. The flavours are granny smith apples, cut red apple and baked apple too, lemon and lime. There is a wonderful chalky minerality to it too. It has an elegant mouthfeel and a long finish. It is super delicious.

The bright acidity and citrus notes of this wine are well matched to an upbeat pop song. The minerality and high acidity give this wine great structure, so I picked a song with a similar tight structure. The wine, with its delightful floral aromas and fruity flavours, is playful on the palate and even though it is high in acid it is quite smooth too. So, again, the song I chose is playful and smooth. The wine also has a great purity, it’s not encumbered with oak or other interfering wine making techniques, much like the matching song.

The song I paired with the 2014 Sipp Mack Riesling Grand Cru Rosacker is Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles – quite possibly my all time favourite band.

Good Day Sunshine is a bight and breezy, structured pop song – it is one of just a handful Beatles songs to use contiguous choruses. It is a pure pop song with no exotic instruments or tape loops. It is just Paul singing, Lennon harmonising and a piano and drums and very little guitar on the backing track. So, like the wine, it is bright, has great structure and is pure in taste and style.

Both the wine and the song capture the essence of carefree sunny days and both are good-mood enhancing. What a combo.

This wine is perfect for a barefoot picnic in the grass and this feel-good song is a magic, musical accompaniment.

I truly believe that when you pair the right wine with the right music, you get a heightened sensory experience that hits all the right notes. Maybe, one day, wine labels will say: ‘pairs well with shellfish and The Beatles’.

She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult

When Frankie asked me to pair a wine with the song ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ by The Cult I knew exactly what wine to choose: Château Vincens Les Graves De Paul Cahors 2014 

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Credit: Melanie May

She Sells Sanctuary has been described as ‘a goth milestone’ and ‘quite possibly the most famous goth-rock song’. So, a fitting pairing is a ‘black’ wine. Well, I was hardly going to choose a Champagne, goths aren’t exactly known for being bubbly now, are they?

Black wine is Malbec from Cahors in France and its dark colour is caused by a high concentration of polyphenols from the Malbec grape skins.

This particular wine I choose has a dark label and gothic script – goths love flourishes like that. This bottle will therefore co-ordinate perfectly with their crushed velvet jackets and the writing is big enough to read though all their eye makeup.

This wine tastes best if you let the air at it for a little while, so pour it into your best chalice or goblet and leave it to breathe whist you go write some awful poetry.

When you listen to She Sells Sanctuary you’ll notice the soft build-up of the intro and then Ian Astbury’s impassioned vocals before the drama of the instrumental break hits. There is a great structure to this song and that’s thanks to pop producer Steve Brown, he worked with Wham!.

The wine also follows a similar trajectory. When you first sniff you get a soft build up of aromas like dark fruits, bramble, tobacco and woody spices. Then, when you first sip, you taste the fruit but it is balanced out with lovely savoury, smoky and spicy flavours. Then the drama of the mineral backbone, hint of oak and smooth tannins hit. This wine is intense, rich and elegant with great structure. Just like the song. As for the impassioned vocals? Well, this is a heartfelt wine with a sense of place. You can taste the terroir. It also has a restrained power, much like the vocal style of the lead singer.

Like most goths, this wine isn’t fully mature. The oak and tannins means you could age it for a few more years. I think ageing would smooth everything out just a tad more and let those lovely savoury flavours develop too.

With a wine this intense and rich you can pair it with big intense food. I chose to pair mine with steak because of its high iron content, cause, let’s face it, most goths look anaemic.

I think pairing a goth-rock song with a black wine helps keep the proper morbid mood, don’t you think? However, as this particular song has expressive pop overtones, I think this expressive, fruit-driven wine with smooth tannins and good structure is a harmonious match.

Overall, it’s a rich, complex and age-worthy wine that is delicious to drink now but could be something even more special if left to age for a few more years. It might even get a cult following!

It’s not hard to see why some wines from Cahors have a cult following! Get it? Cult? The Cult?

I’ll get my coat.

Melanie May

Melanie May is a food and wine writer and travel journalist from Dublin. She won the ‘Best Newcomer’ award at the 2019 Travel Extra Travel Journalist of the Year Awards and she is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers and is a Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste Judge.

Her love of wine began in her early 20s when she worked in a wine shop in Dublin and she has been developing her palate and tasting skills ever since. She has a WSET Level 2 Award in Wines & Spirits and a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines and uses this knowledge to inform the wine articles she writes for her blog, Travel Eat Write Repeat.

You can also follow her gastronomic adventures on Twitter and on Instagram.

The Frankly Wines & Friends Wine & Music Series
No. Guest Name Music to pair Wine to pair
14 Lee Isaacs The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter Domaine Jones Fitou
13 Sharon L Souls Of Mischief –  93 ‘Til Infinity Penfolds RWT
12 Tim Milford Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
11 Mags McKee U2 with BB King –  When Love Comes to Town Pittnauer Zweigelt Heideboden
10 Cara Rutherford The Cure – Just Like Heaven Suertes del Marqués ‘7 Fuentes’
9 Melanie May The Cult –  She Sells Sanctuary Sipp Mack GC Rosacker Riesling
8 James Hubbard Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv
7 Paul Moran Underworld – Rez Suertes del Marqués Trenzado
6 Nirina Plunkett Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy Club Remix Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace
5 Penny Sadler Fleetwood Mac – Dreams Bollinger Special Cuvée
4 Jim Dunlop The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road Man O’ War Valhalla Chardonnay
3 Avril Kirrane McMorrough Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why Joseph Cattin Riesling Reserve
2 Tim of Soliciting Flavours Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings Viña Tondonia Blanco
1 Sinéad Smyth Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You Mullineux Syrah