Happy Friday,

Thanks to y'all who came out to Dizzy's this past Monday. I recapped a bit of what it meant to me to sing Weill's "Pirate Jenny" on Insta with a clip from soundcheck, if it's of interest.:)

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this week's pairing!

Juice

When I see a label, emblazoned with neon, expletives, and a rounded sans serif font, I often expect a wine that’s a little rough hewn, on the fringes of the expected, and perhaps only appealing to a narrow audience.

Fabien Jouves’ “You F&@k My Wine?!” 2024, from the Southwest of France, is a blend of jurançon noir (which I didn’t realize existed) and merlot, and is named after a quote from “Raging Bull.” To follow tradition, winemakers aren’t supposed to bottle anything but malbec as a red in order to boast being from this region. But Jouves loves it, and I’m glad he brought his renegade spirit to this bottle.

For all its brash story and presentation, the wine is an utter delight, made with minimal intervention yet still having plenty of polish. It might be outside the geographical wine rules, but perhaps its sheer enjoyability is the biggest middle finger to the law of all.

It's vibrant violet in the glass – ripe, even candied strawberry and pomegranate fruit promises on the nose, and then delivers on the palate. The wine is lively, juicy and perked with a briney black olive and oregano savory aspect, with just a splash of tannin. At 11.5% ABV it qualifies as very ‘crushable’ but has sophistication beyond expectation.

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I'm glad Jeremy at Some Good Wine on 8th Street thoughtfully recommended this bottle – you can pick it up from this gem of an NYC store here.

Jazz

Today, the name of Ornette Coleman is synonymous with the avant garde, and when he came out with the album titled “Change of the Century” (Atlantic, 1960) it was a swaggering proclamation that something new and essential was happening to jazz.

His oeuvre has the imagination, innovation, and idiosyncrasy to back those big words – but all that significance can sometimes belie unmitigated joy. And, in this case, it does.

“Ramblin’”, the lead tune on the “Change of the Century", is bluesy, quirky; it bounces and swings. Ornette’s clarion sound and garnishing growls carry the tune through – I particularly like the tangy bass solo by Charlie Hayden, bringing a piquancy and pop to the proceedings that ultimately begs to be listened to again and again.

Sometimes, revolution is heralded by way of pleasure.

Ramblin' Ornette Coleman PREVIEW   ​

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Have a great week.

Truly,

Kristen

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