Hope you're looking forward to a rejuvenating weekend.

A few notes:

I figured out how to link to some of the wines I've been featuring, and have two at the bottom of this email that would be hits for Thanksgiving. Your purchase helps to support the newsletter, for which I am most grateful.

Lastly, "Holidays" is still on sale for the 12/2 Dizzy's shows. You can find your tickets here. A little early holiday spirit feels just about right!

Juice

People drink for a lot of reasons (and a lot of not-reasons) but why I truly love wine has to do with how it can enliven us and the world around us with pleasure. And how, much the way food made with love is nourishing in ways that can't be quantified by a nutrition label, wine that is made with love has a hum, a vibration, that can both ground and inspire us in ways that go well beyond what an alcohol percentage can explain.

This week's wine is made by Francesco and Laura de Franco and goes by the name 'A Vita. It's from Calabria, specifically Cirò, from the year 2018. It's made from the grape gaglioppo -- which is as fun to say correctly as it is to mispronounce.

A lesser known grape from old vines, from a producer who makes minuscule amounts of wine compared to the big producers that dominate the area, this Cirò is an integrous example of the region and a testament to time, patience and care.

Dusty terra cotta and herbs infuse the nose, hay and sandalwood also waft out of the glass. Enveloping, charry, tannins wrap restrained garnet cherry fruit on the palate. The wine is so vibrant in its relative youth, which at six years of age will reward those with more patience than I!

Jazz

I look to music sometimes to entertain me, to transport me, and on some occasions as a refuge.

The stateliness and deep sense of place of this week's wine, and an intense week, had me looking for music that offered the same sense of composure and care in which to find solace.

Dave Brubeck's "Jazz Impressions of Japan" (Colombia, 1964) is a musical mediation on the sound and aesthetic of the titular country -- inspired by Japan's people and music, Brubeck's compositions are a meditation on place from someone who clearly loved it.

Although Koto Song was the only track from this album to be part of the Brubeck canon right away, the song that spoke to me most is Rising Sun -- patient, profound; simple and majestic at the same time.. Paul Desmond's solo as luminous, and Brubeck's harmonic voicings are set like jewels. Joe Morello's steady work on the drums remind me that renewal is not something to rush.

Rising Sun The Dave Brubeck Quartet PREVIEW   ​

So I've finally got a few links for you, with Thanksgiving wines in mind.

This Châteauneuf-du-Pape blanc is so next level and perfect for the day (I paired it with Kurt Elling if you recall.) Not inexpensive, you might choose to hide it from the in-laws. (I ran the '23 vintage but they are selling the '22 -- I am sure it's excellent too.)

Affordable and easy drinking, this Pinot will surely be a crowd pleaser (as would be Anat Cohen's Quartetinho album I paired with it!)

Truly,

Kristen

P.S.: As always you can visit the main page to see the archive of posts!:)