wilder things 🍇


Happy Almost Spring,

I’ve been enjoying the milder weather here in NYC, working on tunes and getting out to hear some things, including “Moby Dick” at the Met a few nights ago – what a time to be reminded that venturing on a boat led by a maniac only leads to ruin!

Hope you love this week’s pairing as much as I do.


Juice

France’s Loire Valley is famed for its white wines (hello Sancerre) and also its reds, where, to me, cabernet franc finds its most authentic expression. I could also make the argument that beyond that, Chinon is the place within the Loire where this is most true – and the wines of Domaine Olga Raffault have long stood as one of the region’s most shining examples.

I’ve had vintages of this wine going back decades am always stunned at how composed yet rustic they are. You cannot mistake the grape, or the place, for anything else. Its idiosyncratic character makes me slightly more understanding of a few of my loved ones who don’t like this grape – intense personalities can be polarizing.

The grape’s unique personality makes me love it more fervently and this bottle even more so. The 2018 “Les Picasses” has an unmistakable personality while still being a transparency of the place from which it hails: dark cassis fruit is punctuated by cinnamon bark, licorice and a hint of mace on the nose. On the palate, an etched graphite minerality leads into the the dry finish, like fallen forest leaves; at once both strict and wild.

You can find the wine here.

(make sure to indicate your state on the site to see availability, and thank you -- your purchasing it this way supports the newsletter!)


Jazz

Andrew Cyrille has been at the forefront of avant garde jazz for his entire career and continues to make ageworthy music while ever evolving in mastery and message as a composer, drummer, and bandleader.

His album “Lebroba,” (ECM, 2018) made with the incomparable Wadada Leo Smith and Bill Frisell, is a shining example of restraint, transparency, and invention. Cyrille's song, “Pretty Beauty”, is evocative and exquisitely focused. The trio allows sounds to begin and decay freely, embracing subtlety in texture, feeling expansive yet disciplined.

When venturing into unfamiliar territory, best be in the hands of greatness.

​

artist
Pretty Beauty
Andrew Cyrille, Wadada Leo S...
PREVIEW
Spotify Logo
 
​

I hope you enjoy, let me know!

Truly,

Kristen

​

​

​

​jazz & juice homepage/archives​

kristenleesergeant.com


​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

Jazz & Juice

a poetic pairing of wine & song, every other Friday

Read more from Jazz & Juice

Hi There, Greetings to you from the air, en-route to California for some hybridized time with wine, art, and Ted’s family (more on them in a minute!) Lots of you know I’ve been developing my original one-woman musical show, “Beyond the Frame”, for years now. (It’s an exploration of Édouard Manet’s art through his muses and models, told through story and song.) Today, I'm thrilled to announce Gaye Taylor Upchurch is our director! Finding the right person to helm the show and bring it to the...

Happy Friday, Hope you're staying cool and feeling good. It's been a busy week over here -- overdubbing some solos for the new album in particular has been a highlight, we're really excited to start mixing it soon! I loved this week's pairing as you'll read -- and hope you do too. Juice When I bought my first bottle of this 2023 trousseau gris from Two Shepherds of the Russian River Valley, I thought I purchased an enticing domestic rosé that promised intrigue (and delivered). Then I bought a...

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 bleep 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...