Taste, Listen…
Unlock your senses
Can wine sound as good as it tastes? Chopin, Haydn and Puccini might agree.
The dazzling piano partitas and sonatas of Bach; the exquisite arias and art songs; Elgar’s much-loved Cello Concerto in E minor, performed by the legendary Jacqueline du Pré, provide a perfect match for the finest wines in the world.
the perfect pairing
The harmonic depth of a brawny Giacosa Falleto Barolo, echoed in the cadences of silky tannins with a hint of truffle, intimately commingles with Tchaikovsky's String Serenades in classical sonata fashion whilst drawing on Brahm's Hungarian Dance in piquant rhythms for the rich, complex Lafon Montrachet.
can you taste the music?
Music can immediately colour how we experience wine and influence the hedonic aspects of tasting.
Inspired by the great Baroque composer J.S. Bach’s ‘Coffee Cantata’ — a mini-comic opera about a coffee-addicted girl illustrating Bach’s unbridled passion for coffee, Wine Cantata offers a new multifaceted experience that engages all your senses beyond taste, smell and sight.
“Ah! How sweet coffee tastes, more delicious than a thousand kisses, milder than muscatel wine. Coffee, I have to have coffee.” - Cantata No. 211
from adagio to waltz, discover a variety of musical expressions by top wine-producing regions and producers…
Full, rich and opulent —the finale of the Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor pairs perfectly with an iconic California wine, known for its firm structure and bright acidity, leading into the voluminous Allegro moderato. Vigorous and lavish, every stroke of the cello - often said to be the instrument closest to the human voice - is brilliant, whilst the fruity contralto voice of Ridge's flagship Monte Bello sings with expressive depth and melodic richness, building into a theme reminiscent of wistful rhythmic folk music from Dvořák's homeland. And the soaring floral overtones, accompanied by evenly ripe black and blueberry fruits, gradually close with a persistent push of mineral diminuendo and soft cedary underneath.
A seductive Meursault Genevrières from old vines with a toasty nose of depth brings a warm, focused timbre to the title character in Handel’s opera Ezio. Deep golden-yellow with flavours of anise, white flower, and oyster shell and a touch of honeysuckle and mineral elements abound, enshrouding the countertenor Jaroussky’s tender vocal lines with harmonically pungent commentary.
listen to the best vintages…
Château Angélus
1953, 1990, 1998, 2000
pairings
click on the bottle to hear its distinctive musical expression
1992 Comtes Lafon Montrachet
Bach: Violin Concerto in E major: Allegro
The fierce opening chords, built on an E-major triad, set the tone for Lafon's mighty 1992 Montrachet. Every harmonic twist and turn of the Allegro from Bach Violin Concerto No.2 rewards with haunting aromatics of wildflowers, grilled hazelnut, acacia honey, and vanilla. There's a magical rapport between the violin virtuoso Joshua Bell and the orchestra, bearing close affinity with the Italian concerto grosso style. The exquisite sound emanating from Bell's 1713 Gibson Stradivarius conjures an image of picturesque countryside, infused with the gaiety and merriment of a pastoral dance, whilst the 'provincial' passages - in the most natural and unforced flows of multiple melodic lines - are as uplifting as the southeast facing slope in the morning sun. It is a Venetian concerto with a Burgundian twist that brings all the joie de vivre of Chassagne.
1990 Ch. Margaux
Fago: Il Faraone Sommerso: 'Alla gente a Dio diletta'
Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński's virile, burnished voice wraps around a melange of blackberry fruit, cigar box, and fig notes; mellow and hearty, with spicy overtones. And the 1990 Château Margaux, whose clarion contralto voice, sounding at once angelic and luminous, begins with a deep, earthy melody that leads into the ensuing adagio, creating a gentle pastoral backdrop for the aria Alla gente e Dio diletta. Full ruby-red with garnet nuances hits the upper register with natural ease only to attune itself to the stateliness of melody but picks up mouthfilling concentration from a whispering pianissimo. Clean and fresh throughout with round tannins and a lovely mineral-driven backbone beyond a hint of vibrato — it's pure magic.
2007 Harlan Estate
Vivaldi: Demofoonte, RV deest: Sperai vicino il lido
Set over 70 times, Vivaldi's highly-acclaimed opera Demofoonte, the King of Thrace naturally coincides with a First Growth California. Bursting with blackberries, dark cherries and liquorice notes, swaddled in vivid, colourful orchestration, the 2007 Harlan Estate shows its fiercely beautiful structure with uncompromisingly firm tannins. And the voluptuous and penetrating countertenor voice of Philippe Jaroussky responds to pure Cabernet at its best with a sense of Baroque decorum. "I hoped near the shore; I believed, calmed the wind"; Harlan exhibits the same vigour and determination in carrying out the euphoric flavours of tobacco, baking spices and leather that characterise a cyclone of an unbending melody only Vivaldi could envision.
