WINE & MUSIC: DAMIEN RICE AND LA GRAMIERE

So my better-late-than-never installment of Wine and Music for Twitter’s “#musicmonday” is a look at one of my wife’s favorite artists, Damien Rice. I was only vaguely familiar with the dark and dirgy folk singer when my wife started buying every CD the poor bloke has out. One of the songs that stuck in my head, even to this day, is “Volcano.” The Irish folk singer is a troubadour in the truest since, with stark, open soundscapes and brooding, poignant lyrics that reveal human nature in all its fallacies. Peeling back the onion of human idiosyncrasies, the music lays the soul bare, exposing all those dark secrets you never really wanted anyone to know, giving you the freedom to be who you truly are.

I took my wife to see Damien Rice in Louisville a year or so ago, at a great little theatre downtown (the name is now escaping me), and I was simply blown away, not only by the ration of women to men in the audience (I think I may have seen 20 or 30 other guys there), but the level of intimacy Damien Rice and his bandmates could achieve in that fairly large venue. It was a beautiful show, and I am forever impressed by the man and his music.

Check out “Volcano” here:





As for a wine that similarly inspires me, the La Gramiere Rouge 2006, which I have mentioned previously, was sired by the wife-husband winemaking team of Amy Lillard and Matt King, two American ex-pats that are single-handedly running a vineyard and winery in Southern Rhone.


Their love child, this delicious blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre is a rich, medium-bodied seductress in a bottle. Supple, intimate, and ethereally sexy, this red wine has become a big favorite of mine, and reminds me of my wife and I connecting to the music of Damien Rice, and each other.

Try them together, Damien Rice and La Gramiere, with the one you love, either with an intimate dinner, or just a low-lit night on the deck/beach/mountaintop/wherever.