This is What it Sounds Like...
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Remembering great musicians
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last evening and much of today listening to one of the most iconic artists that we’ve seen in our time. Prince Rogers Nelson was a visionary and a legend. He has truly inspired many of us through his words, his art forms, and his music.
Since I love music, and pairing wine with things, I thought I’d spend some time pairing some iconic artists with iconic wines.
1) Prince’s 1979 hit song, I Wanna Be Your Lover is by far, my favorite Prince jam. The first time that I heard this song was at a backyard barbecue in Brooklyn and it got everyone on their feet. This song on the turntables, paired with some R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rosé in your glass, equals a party that lasts all night. Like Prince, this Rioja producer is truly iconic and like Prince's music, this rosé is special and not available everywhere (not even on Tidal!). Lopez' rosé is only produced in the best years, comes out in limited releases and is best enjoyed at any time of the day (see any similarities there!). Though Prince loved purple, I’ll be drinking this rosé to commemorate him.
2) If we're talking music icons, Michael Jackson must be a part of that conversation. His song P.Y.T. is probably my favorite song of all time, but his 1983 classic "Beat It” absolutely deserves to be on this list. His bad-as$, "stick it to the man" attitude and Warriors style video is true imagery of what it means to push the envelope. “Showin’ how funky and strong your fight; it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right; Just beat it.” These words from Jackson couldn’t do a better job of describing Stéphane Tissot’s Biodynamic Arbois wine. Tissot is a bad-as$ winemaker in the Jura region of France, who continues to push the button on what great wine is. Juicy, funky and not afraid of what it is, this is the wine that the Warriors should be drinking right before a knife fight or better yet, a dance battle.
3) 1983 must have been the year for hits because David Bowie’s 1983 classic, "Let’s Dance" is another timeless piece of work. Not everyone had a red leather jacket like MJ did in “Beat It", but we all knew someone with red dancing shoes (well, maybe just dancing shoes). Little known fact is that at the 2:51 mark in this video, a bottle of 1967 Hunter Valley Australian Shiraz is flashed. For this, I’ll give a shout out to one of my favorite Australian producers, Torbreck. While they aren’t the oldest guys in the vineyard, they create some incredible wines that demand the respect of everyone else. The Torbreck 2009 Descendant is made up of mostly shiraz (syrah) and is as bold and awesome as wearing a canary yellow suit jacket with shoulder pads (don’t act like you never wore shoulder pads!).
4) Marvin Gaye, Prince and Sade produced some of the finest baby-making music out there, but Rick James’s 1981 song Super Freak definitely takes the cake. This song has inspired and influenced so many artists that I could write an entire blog post on it alone. Although Mario Incisa of Tuscany wasn’t known to wear Deep V-neck shirts like James, he is one of the most famous wine pioneers throughout Italy--the same way James was an inspiration in music. You can call it baby-making, thinking outside of the box or just plain genius, but Incisa went against the law and grew Cabernet Sauvignon on Tuscan soil and created something magical called Sassicaia. Sassicaia is the world’s first super Tuscan. Initially, many people disregarded it, some may have even called it a freak…a super freak, but in the end everyone came around to realize that this is one of the most amazing wines EVER produced.
5) I couldn’t end this post without mentioning one of the greatest artists ever, Whitney Houston. Her 1987 blockbuster, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” will forever live on as one of the best songs ever created. If this song doesn’t make you want to dance and drink champagne, please unsubscribe! Whitney was beautiful, classy and oh so elegant. Her dance moves, that smile and her sass are things that I’ll never forget. Both Houston and Prince will forever live on as a true models of what it means to be iconic and when I’m toasting to their honor, Krug Champagne is the only thing that I'm drinking (and pouring out).
There are so many other songs and icons to add to this list, but I'll leave it to you to celebrate the legacy of all of the great artists who have inspired us to be unique.
As long as I do not take myself too seriously I should not be too badly off. - Prince
As always, if you like what you’ve read or have any questions, just shoot me an email. Also, if you’d like to add anyone to the distribution list, just let me know.
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