We haven’t done a pairing note in a while, so I thought I would share one of the pairings you’ll be tasting on Sunday March 26th in our program “The Playful Palate,” which is offered in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Our musical selections for our first red wine of the evening, the 2009 “Coquette” by Tessa Parker of Tessa Marie Vineyards located in Los Olivos, CA are:

“Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles
“Quando m’en vo” from La bohème by Giacomo Puccini
“The Look of Love” by Diana Krall

As you can see, we’re spanning three completely different genres of music: Blues rock, Opera, and Jazz. For our sweet treat, we offered a Dark Chocolate Strawberry Habanero Bark by EOS Chocolates.

Even without the name, this wine is all flirt. It’s bold, sexy, and strong-willed yet maintains a brooding softness and velvety tannins that will make you swoon. We wanted to find music that spoke to both the wine’s strong and feminine personalities.

Our first musical selection reflects the velvety mouthfeel of the wine. The country-rock genre allows the musicians a great deal of individuality and attitude, which is perfect for the suggestiveness of the Coquette. The richness of the Sangiovese hits you right away – much like the deep and steady rhythms of this song – and the spice of the dark chocolate strawberry habanero bark lends itself perfectly by cutting through the tannins to secure its own flavor profile in your mouth.

There’s no bigger flirt in the history of music than Musetta and in our second selection, we encourage you to pay special attention to your sense of smell as you concentrate on the air that hangs between her vocal phrases and breathe in the big berries on this wine’s nose. Diana Krall completes our circle with her languid song “The Look of Love.” The addition of a hint of samba in this piece is perfect for the Coquette as it gives us a feeling of swaying, which helps us fully appreciate the complexity of these two grapes as they move in harmony with one another.