#Yang Jungah
2017.07.04
Chapter 2. The Wines for Romantic Moments
Introducing the columns written by member of Amorepacific Group
ColumnistYang Jungah
Amorepacific Mass MC Team
# intro
The painting above showing the passionate love of a couple is a work by Joseph Lorusso, a painter born in a Chicago Italian immigrant family. Most of Lorusso's paintings depict ordinary people in an everyday setting. He tends to paint the gestures of loving couples who are enjoying tea or wine in an undisguised way. 'Love' is one of the most popular themes of any artistic work, be it painting, movie or novel. Similarly, many aspects of wine, from labels to bottle shapes to grape varieties for blending, epitomize aspects of love stories. Even drinking wine itself is associated with love. Sante! In France, when they clink wine glasses for a toast, they make eye contact and shout out Sante, which means "good health". The important point here is to contact eyes! It's said that if you don't maintain the eye contact during a toast, your partner will not have a lover for years, believe it or not. Wouldn't the relationship get a little closer if you contact the eyes and exchange an honest look, instead of words whenever you clink wine glasses with someone? In my second column, I'd like to introduce the romantic wines made by romantic producers who love friends, family and wine itself more than anything.
"My heart is at Calon Segur "
People who are in love often try to express the special relationship by looking for a connection between each other or using a special way that only the two people involved can recognize. For example, you carry a couple item with you, or post your photo which your special one took as a profile image. This is the same case for wine makers. The first wine story is about 'Calon Segur' from Saint-Estèphe of Bordeaux, France, known as the perfect wine for romance because of the label with a heart shape (*called Etiquette in French). This wine was owned by the Segur family, which also owned two wines, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour, two of the five major chateaux wines that you might have heard of before.
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Chateau Calon Segur, Wine Heart-shaped wine label (left) / A scene from Drops of god (Right)
Just as a writer's favorite work is not necessarily his/her bestselling book, the Marquis de Segur cherished this wine more than the premium wines people cared for. He showed his love for this wine saying "I make wine at Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour, but my heart is at Calon." To honor this saying, his descendants designed the label with a heart-shaped logo and named the wine Calon Segur. As a result, this wine has been loved for the occasion of drinking with significant other, friends and family, or for a gift to express love and appreciation.
The Biggest Scandal of the Middle Age, Abelard & his pupil Heloise
Romeo and Juliet, Sartre and Beauvoir, and Abelard and Heloise. These great love stories have been adapted into movies, novels, and plays repeatedly and echoed through the ages. The passionate but tragic love affairs of Abelard and Heloise, which shocked the medieval Europe with age difference over 20 years, premarital pregnancy, and family's opposition, was reborn in the "Chene Blue" wine made in the Rhone region of southern France.
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Edmund Leighton Abelard & his pupil Heloise (left) / Chene Blue wine (Right)
Abelard and Heloise first met as a teacher and a private student. When she became pregnant before marriage, they ran off to marry in secret. Fearing that the affair might damage Abelard's reputation as one of the greatest theologian of his times, however, Heloise denied the news about their secret marriage and retreated to a nunnery soon. Then, Abelard was castrated by Heloise's uncle who had strongly opposed the relationship. Staying apart for the rest of the lives, they continued the correspondence and love until Abelard's death. The producer of Chene Blue named the flagship wine after the extraordinary love story. The complex, brooding Grenache blend was named as Chene Blue, Abelard. The aromatic and restrained Syrah blend was named as Chene Bleu, Heloise. Their eternal love inspired the wine and will continue to live in it.
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The blue oak tree at Chene Bleu winery
You are the only one
A special product edition is often released with the signature or initial monogram of the designer for a limited time. In my opinion, revealing the name of a designer means that the product represents the designer's confidence and passion. If I were a wine maker, I would put the image of my most loved person on the most delicious wine and the image of myself on the most devoted wine.
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Luis Felipe Edwards & his wife, Dona Bernarda
The last few romantic wines I would like to introduce have the image of the winemaker him/herself and their loved ones. About 6 years ago, I had an opportunity to taste the wines made by Luis Felipe Edwards, the famous producer from Chile. The wine chosen unanimously as the most delicious one by the attendees of tasting event was this one with the image of the wife of the producer. Luis made the wine for his wife. The woman shown in the picture above with Luis is his wife, Dona Bernarda. If you visit the website of the winery, you can easily find a lot of family pictures. It seems like Luis' confidence in his wine and love for his family are strong enough to put his wife's face on the label.
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Luis Felipe Edwards & his wife, Dona Bernarda
This wine with a slightly unique label is Simone from Beaujolais area of France. There are 10 Beaujolais Crus which produce wines of excellent quality in Beaujolais region. You can regard Crus as the region's very best vineyard lands. The winery of this wine with the producer's face on the label is located in Fleurie, one of the 10 crus. The vines are all on steep slopes that are impossible to work mechanically and even too difficult to use a horse. Furthermore, this winery produces natural wines which are free from chemical fertilizer or yeasts. Tasting like fresh raspberries, this wine is as clean and pure as the smile of Julie Balagny, the wine producer.
Louis Pasteur, a French scholar, said "a bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world." It is probably because a bottle of good wine is filled with the love and passion of the winemaker. I wish you can have an exciting spring with the romantic wines that I have introduced above. Thank you for reading.
Louis Pasteur, a French scholar, said "a bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world." It is probably because a bottle of good wine is filled with the love and passion of the winemaker. I wish you can have an exciting spring with the romantic wines that I have introduced above. Thank you for reading.
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Joseph Lorusso's 'end of the night'
※ Too much of a good thing is a bad thing!
Typically, wine has 12-14% alcohol by volume.
If you drink too much, your love will say goodbye to you.
Typically, wine has 12-14% alcohol by volume.
If you drink too much, your love will say goodbye to you.
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