Happy Friday!

This week's pairing had me tasting and listening to some new things that are also popular (and wine-wise, findable, which is a change from the last few weeks!)

I hope it brings you into the weekend refreshed.

Juice

When you start learning how to blind taste, sauvignon blanc from New Zealand is one of those wines that is easy to identify — the grape’s characteristic citric zing comes with a ripe lushness there that’s unmistakeable. It’s a popular wine category, and for good reason.

Deep Down’s 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is a shining example of the best these wines can be: it is zippy and crisp, with a lemongrass-y, bergamot-y nose and ripe grapefruit and watermelon on the palate. It’s got lots of expressivity but still keeps itself taut, and was easy to polish off (especially since we had some goat cheese handy, a classic pairing.)

This winery is making delicious juice and is also a certified B corporation, a rigorous distinction in addition to their organic certification.

I admire producers who embrace wine’s ability to convene humans and nature in a way that improves each — after all, it’s a small world.

Jazz

Jonatan Batiste is an artist who comes out of jazz but is unafraid to embrace more popular musical styles, often in service of a humanistic message — spiritually nutritious music that doesn’t shy away from being easy to enjoy.

Batiste, like our wine category, is very well known — his consistency as a musician and performer of heart and ability is no secret.

It's revealing for me to ponder how obscurity or fame might influence what I listen to, or sip on -- and I'm glad I didn't miss this wine or album in my perpetual hunt for the hidden!

For this pairing, I chose “Soulful,” a tune from his live album “Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard” (Verve, 2019) because of it’s welcoming ease, energetic drive, and the spirit in it’s feeling. Giveton Gelin’s trumpet solo is celebratory, and the pulse of Joe Saylor's drums keeps going into the fade, reminding us there is a future both to hope and be responsible for.