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.
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’
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.