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During the 2015 Saint-Emilion Jazz Festival, the Belgian artist has tried the Musical Wine Tasting. The principle? Eight Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés to be interpreted musically. Verdict of the audience: a magical moment.
THE SAINT EMILION GRANDS CRUS CLASSÉS SET TO MUSIC
You had to see Éric Legnini contemplating his glass of wine and tasting it, before putting his hands on the keyboard of a Steinway & Sons, in the sumptuous setting of Salle des Dominicains. Jazz chords then mingled with the aromas of Saint-Emilion wines. “When you play a song, the feeling is different for person to person, so is the wine, it’s very subjective. To put music to sensations is a difficult but a very, very nice exercise”, says Éric Legnini. To prepare this Musical Wine Tasting, the artist had discovered the wines a few days earlier. Faced with these prestigious Saint Emilion Grands Crus Classés, Eric Legnini says he “Compiled, in all humility, the world of each song. I had the impression that it could work with the wine”.
GREAT CLASSICS FOR GREAT WINES
To express the whole range of Saint Emilion wines, Éric Legnini explored his own personal catalog and some great jazz classics: “With rather rounded wines, I had a more subdued approach with the sound. For the fresher wines, for example, I was on something more vocal”, he says. During the tasting, Éric Legnini said he felt “a great tradition in Saint-Emilion wines”.
To interpret “The terroir from here, I assimilated the wine to the history of jazz”. Among the highlights of the Musical Wine Tasting, Éric Legnini played Thelonius Monk, a piece of Stevie Wonder’s impromptu duet with trumpeter Stéphane Belmondo or his own compositions.
ÉRIC LEGNINI, INDUCTED TO THE JURADE DE SAINT-ÉMILION
If Éric Legnini took so much pleasure during this Musical Wine Tasting it is because he is a big fan of the Saint-Emilion wines. “Wine is like music, sometimes it’s so varied you do not know what to listen to. It’s good to know the right people that make you discover the good bottles”. For Éric Legnini, his guides were his parents: “When I was young, I remember often being on vacation in Saint-Emilion, we would do tastings in châteaux”. On the occasion of the 2015 Saint-Emilion Jazz Festival, the pianist was inducted to the Jurade de Saint Emilion, “It’s true that I was moved, it is a great honor. I can’t wait to show the pictures to my parents, who are true lovers”, he says, smiling.
