We choose 6 styles of flamenco and create liquid harmonies for a unique sensory experience
By Mara de Miguel .
There is a lot of talk about pairing or harmony between wines and food, but not as much is said about the different harmonies that can be made between wines and music.
Precisely in recent years, studies have been carried out at different universities, both at the Polytechnic of Valencia and at Oxford , where the relationship that exists between tasting wines, simply, or tasting wines while previously listening to some specific type of music, has been studied.
One of the most interesting tastings that I have had the opportunity to develop on various occasions, both as the Flamenco Night of Flamenco , and in private tastings, is precisely that of fortified wines from Montilla-Moriles and the different styles of flamenco, which I can assure you that They marvel at their symbiosis, no matter how sensitive the people who are participating in it are.
From the deepest respect , these are my harmonies, never better said, between each type of wine and each style, which reflects a feeling, a way of being and a very marked personality.
Bulería and Pale Cream pairing
We start with one of the most festive Palos par excellence and there is no wine more festive than what Pale Cream means. Party, excitement, racing hearts and joy, joy of sharing with friends and joy of living, of living in the moment. There is no self-respecting flamenco party without these couplets coming to the fore and there is no wine between sweet and dry, that gives you one of lime and another of sand while it deceives you and leads you to revelry and that desire to live .
Alegrías and pairing of Fino
Who has not ever heard that tiriti, trán, trán trán, tiriti, trán, trán trán … An unequivocal symbol of the beginning of the Alegrías, they have, like organically aged wines, and in this particular Fino de Montilla-Moriles , a solemn but festive component at the same time, that’s why I think it is the best possible combination. With the aftertaste that a sip of Fino leaves, the bitterness of hazelnuts and those aromas of fennel, it gives the perfect mood to listen to and sing that chorus, which makes you want to repeat.
Soleá and Amontillado pairing
The Solea is a calm, elegant palo, with a slow gesture, like a peacock, one of those in which you have to wait and use patience, where the good is yet to come, and where its structure reminds you that the The pain and bitterness that he keeps inside has been forged with the sacrifice of many years. So, there is nothing better than drinking an amontillado from Montilla Moriles , in small sips, savoring drop by drop, the effort of something great and that, due to the tearfulness it has, perhaps is not for the uninitiated.
Seguirillas and Palo Cortado
The seguiriyas is another of the flamenco palos with an important load of pain, feeling and sadness, which are not always well understood. That is the same thing that happens to Palo Cortado from Montilla Moriles . That enigmatic wine, which some say is made by God, and others know, that arises from the deliberate forgetfulness of a winery foreman, who marks it as defective so that he can drink it exclusively, there can be a worse punishment for a wine, than for be excellent, cut off its symbol and turn it into a cross, even if it is for other, justified purposes. This is what the seguirillas are like , which according to those who know the most about Flamenco , say that it is the song that connects with those Arabs, gypsies or Jews who had to live through the persecution of Christians and that such a dramatic event led to those primitive songs that dealt with about life, death or love. Will there be anything that is more Palo Cortado?
Oloroso and his Fandangos
Guillermo Castro Buendía says, in his study on Fandango, that the fandango is the song of a binary rhythm (like the Jota) that has a ternary accompaniment (like the Waltz). It is the Palo that each author writes in a different rhythm, the one that can be pigeonholed, the one that turns on itself. That is for me an Oloroso from Montilla Moriles . So many times with those memories of a sweet smell in the nose, and when you try it it is dry, and so many other times that when you try it it is simply doomed.
Tientos and Pedro Ximenez
The Tientos are a variant that “takes away the jacarando aroma of the tango to create something more serious.” I don’t think there is a better musical definition to talk about Pedro Ximenez Dulces , which with their residual sugar and their grace of joy become serious and calm companions for the end of the meal, or for the beginning of a good aperitif with foagras or a blue cheese.