2016 SHADES OF BLUE Sonoma County Malbec
Meet The Artist - Jordyn Guerra
We believe wine can be a very visual experience. The wine label offers a canvas to showcase an artist’s creativity, thoughts and ideals with visually captivating designs.
This is one of those very special instances where the wine needed to rise up to the level of beauty and excellence of the label design itself. Introducing original artwork created by our daughter, artist Jordyn Guerra.
WINE NOTES
NAME:
Shades Of Blue
VARIETAL:
Malbec
APPELLATION:
Sonoma County
VINTAGE:
2016
What is there not to love about Malbec…. Um, nothing!
It is one of those wines that can appeal to almost everyone, kind of like the person who comes to a party and fills the room with personality that you gravitate toward (like my wife). Getting its fame from Argentina, it is yet another varietal that when grown in the right regions in California, like Sonoma where this wine was born, it can stand up to the very finest wines in the world… and your wine is one of them.
As you open the bottle and begin your first dance steps with this wine, keep thinking blue fruit and chocolate, two characteristics that are pure Malbec. Ah, I’ve got your attention now.
Starting with the blues in mind, notice that the aromas are expressive with juicy blueberry, pretty violet and dark plum… really, really nice. Take a generous sip and let the wine coat your mouth for a moment. Feel the aggressive tannins and round texture of this full-bodied wine. The layers of blueberry and cacao bean are enough to call this wine truly awesome. But, add in the slight vanilla bean and maybe even a skosh of violet on the finish, and it ends like the encore song of a Stevie Ray Vaughan live show… pure mastery, leaving you blown away and wanting more.
Cheers - Eric 🍷
ARTWORK & DESIGN
Label Design By Jordyn Guerra
After reading Eric’s wine notes, it’s easy to see why this was one of the easiest and most fun Wine + Music pairings ever. Malbec with all of its brawn, expressiveness and BLUE fruits, just lends itself to the blues.
As a jazz artist, I recognize that the blues is the very foundation jazz was built upon. My friend Jeff Golub once said “Jazz is blues gone to college.” A music genre that was born in the US, blues started in the deep south in the mid 1800’s and grew out of African American roots using spirituals and work songs express what was in their minds, thoughts and hearts. Listen to these grainy early recordings and you’ll hear pure emotion.
It’s hard to find a jazz artist or rock band today that wasn’t influenced by the blues in some way. Considered some of the finest musicians ever to hold an instrument or sing a song, blues artists emerged from their surroundings with pure storytelling that fills the mind and touches the soul.
When we asked our daughter and artist Jordyn Guerra to come up with a design that would capture this very raw yet complex music, I didn’t know she was going to go all ‘Jackson Pollock’ on us. But I’m really glad she did! When I first put her design on our wine bottle, I felt the same emotion as listening to Bonnie Raitt sing out, “Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery. Make me a poster of an old rodeo. Just give me one thing that I can hold on to. To believe in this living is just a hard way to go.” It gave me chills… and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She nailed it!
Mindi 🎶
MUSIC
There are playlists… and then there is THIS playlist. This is a straight-ahead, fill the room, hard driving list of some of my favorite blues songs that I know you will love. And, I added a few of my very own songs, like “Bad News” that found its way on the blues charts last year.
Grab your Malbec and make sure to turn the volume up to 11 as it’s the only way to listen to this playlist.
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