Palates and Pallets: Wine Tasting and Jewelry Pairing

Wine is complex. There is no one factor that makes for a great wine, although there are many components that contribute to a great wine. Starting from the beginning, great wine starts with great terroir. What is terroir? It is an all encompassing term that refers to soil and climate. Soil contributes 46 elements to the roots, each element or geographically unique molecular arrangement of elements give the grapes complexity, finesse and minerality. When a winemaker works in harmony with the land the wine they produce is a reflection of that land.

Visually wine is also complex. When you tilt a glass of wine with the light shining through different colors diffuse indicating the pH of the wine. The anthocyanins work with pH to create color variation; red, blue and colorless. For example Pinot Noir is a high acid wine, with a low pH and only emit red colors, Zinfandel on the other hand has a higher pH and emits blue colors. Chardonnay has blue and colorless colors that reflect from the glass, this is a great way to have even more fun while drinking wine.

Winemakers and Jewelers shape the product of the earth, one with grapes and yeasts and the other with gems and metals. They influence the final product with a variety of decisions they make each step of the way. A winemaker can choose to practice natural winemaking or go the more conventional route by using chemical fertilizers and other unnatural ingredients just as a jeweler can choose to make jewelry out of real gemstones or glass replicas, high quality metals or cheap alloys. Each decision is a part of the final outcome, and methods employed are apparent in the final product.

The parallels between fine wine and fine jewelry are unmistakable, this is a chance for us to experience them together and appreciate their harmony.

NV Charton- Talliet Cuveé Sainte Anne $41

Region: Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France

Varietal(s): Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

Winemaker: Alexander Chartogne

In a world of constant change it is refreshing to find a vestige of the past that doesn’t shun modernity but rather works to marry tradition and technology. Alexander Chartogne is one such man. He is the product of the seamless transition of generations, where he has built upon a solid foundation of history. He was lauded by the prestigious Bettane & Desauve wine guide; France’s most important wine publication as being “Discovery of the Year”. This was an honor in more than one way as the young man, still in his twenties was being heralded as the next winemaker in Champagne to watch, just a few years after he accepted the reigns of wine production from his parents.

NV Drusian Rosé Mari $16

Region: Valdobbiadene, Veneto, Italy

Varietal(s): Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir)

Winemaker: Francesco Drusian

This beautiful delightfully pink bubbly was selected for its color, redolent of gems such as morganite and tourmaline, and of course its utter drinkability. It comes from Valdobbiadene, a picturesque region below the Alps in northeastern Italy where Prosecco is produced. The Drusian Family, who have a dear love for the land and its grapes, have been producing wine for three generations starting with Guiseppino in the middle of the 19^th century. This wine underwent the Charmat method to produce its fine bubbles.

2008 Merieau Les Hexagonales $14.5

Region: Touraine, Loire Valley, France

Varietal(s): Sauvignon Blanc

Winemaker: Jean-François Merieau

This white wine is fresh and welcoming, with a beautiful label that conjures images of gems such as peridot and stones such as turquoise. It has lovely citrus notes accompanied by light notes of white peach and stunning minerality. It is made by winemaker Jean- François Merieau, who recently took over the estate from his father. The Merieau domain claims 12 different types of soil over 32 hectares, each with their own mineral composition leading to a more complex wine. The average age of the vines are over 50 years old. Older vines are attractive to winemakers for a myriad of reasons some of them being the fact that they produce less fruit with more complexity, and have deeper roots picking up a wider array of minerals from the various tiers of earth.

2007 Jermann Vintage Tunina $74

Region: Venezia Guilia, Friuli, Italy

Varietal(s): Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia, Istriana and Picolit

Winemaker: Silvio Jermann

Vintage Tunina holds romance and intrigue like few wines. It is deep, complex and compelling. The winemaker Silvio Jermann named this wine after two compelling ladies;the original owner of the vineyard Antonia whose pet name was “Tunina”, and Casanova’s only lover to have been of humble birth. This is a “Meditation Wine”; a wine that can be sipped during meditation as well as being a wine that provokes thought.

2007 Chateau Coupe Roses Minervois Cuvée Bastide $16.5

Region: Minervois, Languedoc, France

Varietal(s): Grenache, Carignan, Syrah

Winemaker: Françoise Le Calvez

This wine is an expression of art. Francoise is an adamant art admirer, she and her oenologist poet husband Pascal team up

Françoise Le Calvez and her enologist husband Pascal Frissant (a.k.a. The Poet from the Loire) work their domain with passion creating wine that is like an expression of art. They work with the vines and earth to create a beautiful organic red wine that exudes elegance and personality from their vineyards which are among the highest elevations of their appellation sitting at 750-1350 ft above sea level. The vines appear to be growing out of pure rock in a windswept terrain, high above the quite town of Minerve, because microorganisms have eaten out bits of the rock-calcified limestone to create pockets for water, soil and roots. Surrounding the vines are garrigue; wild shrubs of sage, lavender, rosemary, and similar herbs that subtly influence the aromatics of the grapes and subsequently the wine.

2003 Château Filhot $32

Region: Sauternes, Bordeaux, France

Varietal(s): Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadelle

Winemaker: Gabriel de Vaucelles

Sauternes, nicknamed “Liquid Gold” is in one word; delicious. It comes from within Bordeaux but what sets it apart from other dessert wines is that it is the product of botrytis also known as noble rot, a gray mold that occurs only in climates that have a very wet season followed by a very dry season.

This is one of the oldest estates in Sauternes. The original vineyards were planted during the 1630-1650’s. It was founded by Romaine de Filhot, an advisor to the Bordeaux Parliament. He ordered that the name Sauternes be used for this sweet wine instead of being called ‘wine from Langon’. It was given second growth classification by the Bordeaux brokers and was sold around the world under the name Chateau Sauternes until the end of the 19^th century. Presently the chateau is now run by Count Henri de Vaucelles and his son Gabriel.