Unwind with Nick’s Wine and Vinyl Pairing

Since moving house, one of the great pleasures has been the ability to play my vinyl collection (or “records” as I’ve always called them). There is something deeply satisfying and pleasurable about the ritual of listening to a vinyl record; flicking through your albums, choosing one, carefully placing it on the turntable, listening to the warm sounds and reading the album cover and its contents – it is a real sensory experience. It then struck me that it is pretty similar to having a bottle of wine; both activities involve a deliberate process in selection, relaxing and enjoyment.

Vinyl records often highlight deeper warmer textures and nuances. Wine too can have complexity and layers of flavour that slowly reveal themselves. Yes, there can be imperfections but, being positive about these things, this can add to the character. Digital downloads or industrially produced wine doesn’t have this character. There is also that shared “anorak” attraction where people collect and curate their wine and records ( a bit guilty on both counts I’m afraid!)

When mulling this over a strange case of synchronicity occurred in the shop. We took delivery of a South African wine called “Rascallion – Vinyl Collection”. It was clearly meant to be. It’s a Chenin Blanc and pretty good it is too. It has fresh floral aromas along with baked apple, pear and peach notes. Although a South African wine, it describes itself as Southern Rhone in style even though the predominant grape, Chenin Blanc, isn’t normally associated with the Rhone.

I was thinking about what food to pair it with when I had a flash of inspiration – instead of matching with food, I’ll match it with an album. I went for Miles Davis’  “Sketches of Spain”. It’s what jazz aficionados call “3rd Stream” which is essentially a sort of jazz take on classical pieces of music. In this case predominantly Rodrigo’s “Concerto de Aranjuez”. It seemed an appropriate thing to do, match a 3rd Stream piece of music with a South African Chenin Blanc describing itself as “Southern Rhone” – a sort of 3rd Stream wine arguably. Anyway it was a lovely thing to do; open a bottle, stick a record on, sit back and enjoy.

So in a break with tradition I haven’t paired this with any food, not a sausage! We often worry about food and wine matching but as Christian Mouiex of the famous Chateau Petrus family once remarked “more important than the food pairing is the person with whom you drink the wine”. Wise words, and I must say, me, Miles and the Rascallion had a lovely time.

So pair it with any album you choose, settle back and relax. As the Fast Show’s Louis Balfour used to say, “mmmmm……nice”

Cheers,

Nick

Available in store & online at £11.99 per bottle.