If you know me, you know that I’m passionate about both Wine and Architecture. In fact my friends and I actually started our own wine club where we get together quarterly and taste certain varietals and give a presentation on them – I love it! Hopefully, the Architecture should be obvious as to why it is a passion of mine.
So why wine and architecture – what do the 2 have in common?
- Architecture is a culture frozen in time much the same way wine is, wine is influenced by everything that is happening while those grapes are growing and architecture is the same way.
- They both continue to live and give pleasure to people long after they are created.
- They are subjective, someone might say that a building (or a wine) is bold and sexy and someone else might just say they hate it.
- They are fragile and must be maintained correctly or they will be ruined.
- They both have the potential to be priceless works of art.
- They can be paired with other things to compliment them.. or fight them.
- They can be Famous.
So let me tell you a good wine story…
A client of mine had been telling me that she was saving this bottle of a good wine that she had purchased in an auction to celebrate a 30 million dollar grant they had received. I really didn’t think much of it until the day a group of us sat down for lunch and she unveiled the bottle of wine to us.
Have you ever heard of Chateau Lafite Rothschild? It’s known as the Kings Wine at the French Court and has been for centuries. I really knew little about this wine other than the fact that it was rare and had never crossed my lips. Well it turns out this particular bottle of wine was older than I was, it was born in 1964 and the estimated value of the bottle was $1000! After it breathed for awhile, this was truly the most amazing wine I had ever tasted, but I couldn’t help but think “wow, what was happening in 1964.. what was going on that year?” It was like a walk back in time.
That is the same way I feel about architecture when I walk through a building, what was the architect thinking, what was
happening in the world when this building was built? All these circumstances affected the outcome.. which brings me to the idea of a tasting and comparison of some “famous houses” to wine. No, there is no Chateau Lafite here today, but I highly recommend it if you have the chance.
To play along, you’ll want to head to the store to pick up the three wines on this shopping list. Once you have them, sample each of the varietals and take note of your impressions.
- Wine 1: 2010 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough
- Wine 2: La Crema Sonoma Coast 2009 Pinot Noir
- Wine 3: Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec 2008
Photo credits:
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