I am in philosophical mood today and I want to share two of my greatest passions with you: Wine and Opera.

What do the two have in common?

For one, they both have been my passion for longer than I care to remember.

But there is more, much more. Many dimensions are the same: Balance, complexity, emotion, a search for perfection, bonding, just to name a few. 

I am bringing this up, because Margaret and I had the privilege to attend the Gala Night to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas at the Palais Garnier, the Paris opera house.

And I will try to explain in this issue what the link is for me between opera and wine.

If you don’t care about opera, then you can just enjoy the pictures of one of the most beautiful buildings in the world… 

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Wine and opera
For me a good opera is just music and hopefully “nice”.

But that is not enough: I need outstanding to create an emotion.

In the same way that a good wine is just a beverage that may give you some pleasure. 

As my mentor, the late Paul Pontalier of Chateau Margaux, taught me:

“A good wine gives you pleasure; a great wine is an emotion.”

For me the venue plays a special role as well in appreciating the better things in life.

Outstanding food served in a cold and modern restaurant tends to create not much emotion for me. Often these are the meals that you can get anywhere in the world.

Dining in a chateau or, as we did, in a palace, is what I call an experience. 

An experience
Listening to singers like Sondra Radvanovsky in a modern theater with harsh lighting maybe good music.

But it is not the same experience as undergoing sheer perfection in the most beautiful opera house in the world in Paris like we did for the Maria Callas Gala. 

The same goes for wine: of course, you can buy some great wines and drink those at your kitchen table wearing a pair of blue jeans.

But that will not be an experience!

Tasting those same wines in the dining room of our 300-year-old chateau indeed is an experience.

Especially when you realize that the table you are dining at, pre-dates the 1855 Bordeaux Classification by at least 10 years! 

A shared experience
Listening to Pretty Yende singing when you are alone by yourself would be great.

But sharing the experience with likeminded music lovers at a Callas Gala Night adds so much to the experience.

At least that’s what we always feel when we are in one of the best opera houses of the world. 

Goosebumps
The Gala Night to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas proved this point for the umpteenth time to us.

The atmosphere in the theatre was just unique and maybe impossible to describe.

I still get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Some emotions defy words and just need to be felt. 

Just Margaret and me, watching the spectacle all alone, wouldn’t have done it.

Gala souper
The bonding in the audience created by experiencing this together, showed at the gala souper following the spectacle.

We were placed at, what was for me, one of the best tables.

We didn’t know any of our table companions from Adam, but instantly there was this mutual spark.

A spark that came from experiencing something very special together.

The words of Paul Pontalier words could not be more appropriate here: “A great performance is an emotion.”

And a shared emotion touches us on a much deeper level.

Shared emotion
This made me think about how our guests often feel on our tours.

Our guests too, usually don’t know their fellow travelers before coming to us in Bordeaux to share our wine experiences  together.

And how they at some point all agree that sharing these emotions in a small group of likeminded wine lovers make such a difference.

Just as it did for us at the dinner in the Paris opera. 

Doubting yourself, the way to perfection
La Callas was the Prima Donna, the main instrument of the orchestra and in fact of the entire performance.

In the Palais Garnier Opera House, they showed snippets of interviews with Maria Callas.

In one of these she explained how the famous Maestro Tullio Serafin made her discover the expression, the depth of music. Serafin taught her that you must serve music. 

Serving the terroir
This made me think of the philosophy behind producing a great Bordeaux.

Here it is not the winemaker that is the star! All involved in the wine production must serve the terroir.

If you do not do that, it just becomes a recipe, a repeatable, uninspired, and average product. 

Exactly like La Callas explained how she studied for her role in Verdi’s Opera Norma.

She sang to Serafin, and he then said to her:

“Very well, now you know the music very well.

Now you go home, my dear miss Callas, and let the music speak to yourself.

And let’s see with what proportions, with what rhythm you come back to me tomorrow.

Let me see how you would you speak these phrases, according to the Bellini style of course. And you cultivate it yourself.”

A unique signature
Again, the comparison to wine springs to mind. Let’s take the example of Lafite Rothschild, for instance.

The basis of everything is the signature of the terroir. In the words of Serafin: it’s like what the composer gives to you.

Then man interferes. And they will try to create the best what Lafite can produce in any given vintage based on what nature gives us in terms of the weather.

The result is a unique signature instead of repeating what has been done before. 

Not copying vintages from the past, but like a great opera, each performance, each vintage, stands on its own.

But at the same time everything stands on the shoulders of what has been done before.

Like Serafin said to Callas: “Respect the values but try to be free.”

In Callas’ words: “I don’t think that it is done in one day, it is not done in one week and in fact I think that is ever finished.”

Wine and art
This made me think of the way Baroness Philippine de Rothschild would compare making wine to art:

“Making a great wine is like an artist continuing to touch a canvas in search of a perfection he may probably never achieve.”

Not easily satisfied
Even at the top-level wines in Bordeaux they are never satisfied. They always strive to do better, to improve even further.

Callas doubted herself all her life and strived to improve even further her entire life.

I was at First Growth Latour last week to taste the 2023 vintage.

Here the talented estate director Hélène Génin for the first time since I know her, told me albeit reluctantly, that she was somewhat happy with the result of the 2023.

But she also told me that she often couldn’t sleep at night because she kept trying to improve the quality of wines at this First Growth even further.

She made me think of the doubts that Callas kept expressing all her life, even after she was acclaimed world-wide as a First Growth singer…

One was not enough
Listening to a recording of Callas one can’t fail to be struck by the presence of her voice.

Her voice was unique and not always perfect, but from the first notes she defined a character like no other singer has achieved ever since.

To honor Callas at this exceptional Gala night obviously some of her famous arias had to be performed.

And this created a challenge. Callas’ voice, her character, where so unique that no modern singer can live up to that level in all arias.

That’s why they needed four different singes to perform that night.

The stars of the night were sopranos Sondra Radvanovsky, Pretty Yende and mezzo-sepranos Ève-Maud Hubeaux and Kate Lindsey.

Comparing this homage to wine
As you probably know, there are four famous First Growths in the Médoc: Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, and Margaux.

Callas and Bordeaux
If Callas were a Bordeaux, she would combine the elegance and complexity of the Lafite with the concentration and magic of a Mouton, the power and length of a Latour and the strong feminine power and precision of Chateau Margaux.

No wonder they needed four different singers for a true homage and a truly memorable night.

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Indulge in chateau-meals that transcend ordinary dining, offering an exclusive and luxurious culinary journey.

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