As one might expect from a big mouthful of Grenache, Domaine des Florets Gigondas is at once loud and curiously quaint. Grown at about 300 m. above sea level on the rocky red clay slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirial, Gigo’s foolproof equation—Southern Sun + Grenache = Brawn—certainly holds true, but real brilliance lies outside mathematics. In fact, it defies it. Above, below, and in between those formidable tannins and that ample alcohol exists a delicate, even campy honesty. The wine’s edgy acidity pokes through the beef and subtle aroma of flowers and wet asphalt to expose its lurking purity.
Frankly, it reminds us of the banjo, particularly in the context of any number of the neo-folk (anti-folk, freak folk, etc.) indie bands to rise to popularity in the past 5 years. Somehow the inclusion of the banjo always seems to bring things down to earth, offering a pastoral nod even in the midst of keyboards and howling guitars. This observation applies quite effortlessly to Grizzly Bear, a band that employs a full spectrum of atmospheric instrumentation (synthesizers, drums, woodwinds, etc.) at any given moment. But amidst all of the moments of crashing percussion and heady laptop synth, there lies a sense of humble intimacy—often by way of a banjo or a carefully plucked guitar—that elevates Grizzly Bear to a category all their own.
Similarly, we can relate the function of the banjo in neo-folk to the French Realist painter, Honore Daumier, and his use of light. The Realist Movement in painting is known for natural, non-dramatized representations of humble pastoral subjects and the ability of the greats to communicate a true breadth of emotion through such depictions. Now, we are hardly suggesting that our little Gigo is mundane, but it’s a farmhouse wine: rustic, unadorned, and lacking all that modern gild. Still, its lurking purity, its banjo, its Daumier-esque preternatural light, elevates it to something memorable.
Pair With:
Honore Daumier The Third Class Wagon 1864
Why: One of the most iconic paintings of the Realist Movement. Daumier presents a simple image of a peasant family traveling by carriage, at once evoking a dark sense of sympathy, and on further contemplation, lightness and joy. Its warmth of color borders on the solemn, but the faces of the two women are bathed in a pure, almost preternatural light that suggests a sense of peace and humble nobility that brings our Gigo to mind.
Grizzy Bear “On a Neck, On a Spit” from Yellow House
Why: Quaint folk amidst moments of other louder stuff.
