SPIRITUAL - Musical Pairings: Rosso di Montalcino & Milestones
Doug Cuadrado
Food & Beverage Manager at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Founder of Spiritual.
Mastrojanni is one of Tuscany’s most important wineries, excelling in the art of Brunello — a 100% sangiovese wine — and this since Roman lawyer, Gabriele Mastrojanni bought the San Pio and Loreto estates in 1975. The iconic bottle, with its wax seal, is recognisable around the world, but it is really what is inside the bottle that gave the winery its reputation. Focusing on the Brunello, one of the icons of Italian wines, Mastrojanni, is one of the top producers of Tuscany and even more since the Illy — yes, the coffee! — family has taken over.?
Rosso di Montalcino is often considered a baby Brunello di Montalcino — like many Italian wineries do with their high quality wines, offering consumers both an affordable entry to their wines, and an extra patience for the release of their older wines. Rosso needs an aging, both barrel and bottle, of about a year, while Brunello needs over three.?
Rosso is dense and compact, yet well balanced in acidity; its ruby colour discloses ripe red fruits both on the nose and the palate — think crisp acidic cherry — with a hint of earthiness and smokiness. Yes, it is fresh, and if it winks at its bigger brother, it is a pleasantly easy wine to drink.
Miles Davis needs no introduction. He is probably the most important jazz musician — along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk — of the last seventy years. Miles pioneered countless movements in jazz and is one of the most recognisable artists, as well as a cultural icon of his own. His discography is a history of jazz, and each album announces the other, and in some cases preambles what is to follow in the genre. Just like Milestones, released in 1958, does with Kind of Blue, released one year later.
While Kind of Blue, just like Miles, needs no introduction — it is one of the giants of jazz —, Milestones on the other hand is less well-known to the general public.
Released in 1958, Milestones is Miles’ first album with his first great quintet — on this occasion augmented as a sextet — and is considered by many to be the preamble to the chef d’oeuvre that is Kind of Blue; just like Rosso to Brunello, a baby Kind of Blue. In this album, Miles introduced his first explorations with modal harmonies, a first in jazz and in most of Western’s music. It is also the introduction to the contrasting duet that is John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, and the sublime quintet which follows. It is really a compendium of some of the best jazz musicians of the era. Finally, Milestone is a turning point for Miles, about to revolutionise music — something the musician will get quite well accustomed to in his career...
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So, why does this pairing work so well? Well, they are both an insight into the future, where Milestones predicts Kind of Blue, Rosso predicts Brunello! For one who has never tried either of these, it is a great introduction for the senses. When Rosso di Montalcino’s surprises by its wealth of aromas hidden under ripe fruits, Milestones’ “Sid’s Ahead” announces “So What”, its emblematic double bass/horn call and response, and the rest is the future of jazz to come…?
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With Spiritual, we create a documentary that allows wineries, breweries and distilleries to promote their works, products and people. If you own or work at a winery, brewery or distillery and would like to collaborate with us, then get in touch at [email protected]!
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