Hi!

I hope you're enjoying the season and savoring the long nights.

I had a great time pouring wine in Boston for our Two Notes launch -- if you're in the area and missed the tastings, our friends at Vinodivino are carrying the wine at all their locations (and have online ordering!) And, if you're looking for last minute wine gifts, our store list will be at the bottom of this email.

"Blue Xmas"

I love this Bob Dorough song so much, and enjoyed adding a few lyrics to emphasize some new aspects of holiday-inspired ire. Hope you enjoy this clip from Dizzy's!

Juice

It was actually a review of a book I adore (fittingly for us, Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados) that mentioned how charm is an underrated virtue in literature. Today, it will not be underrated in our pairing!

This bottle, Domaine De Stricou Grenache Juteux 2020, is a Côtes du Brian from the Languedoc , France and is charming enough I've bought it three times (I rarely, if ever, drink the same wine twice.) The label says it all -- the man crushing grapes into his face is exactly the kind of hedonistic fun that awaits in this everyday bottle.

It seems like it should be uncomplicated to make a tasty wine from good fruit, but we all know there are a million ways to go astray even with great ingredients. This wine is blackberry/plum juicey, licorice-y, ripe and fresh with enough acid to keep it dangerously refreshing and easy to drink.

Jazz

My friend Sofija Knezevic has a beautiful, supple voice that can do anything -- with this original jazz waltz, she charms us with the musings of a child insistently wanting to go Outside (from Sofijazz, Archival Records 2020.)

It takes a special purity and authenticity as an adult to musicalize flights of young imagination without being cloying. This track has savvy, modernity and a snappy tang thanks to her approach (and a killin' band.) She wraps you around her finger with a dreamy, drowsy lilt.

Jazz is truly the most revealing art form for a vocalist, since a singer makes far more decisions, musically, than any other warbler. To make something successful it's not enough to start with a great instrument -- it takes taste and yes -- charm.:)

Outside? Sofija Knezevic PREVIEW   ​

Happy Holidays!

Truly,

Kristen

P.S.: Two Notes places: Oak & Steel, NYC, Dandelion Wines, Brooklyn; Renegade Wines, Santa Barbara; Goodland Wines, Goleta; The Liquor and Wine Grotto, Montecito; Vinodivino, Massachusetts (various locations.)