Grape Destinations: A Snootful of Art and Wine

Dreaming…..

How often do thoughts of childhood wash over us? How often have these thoughts transported us to a time when everything was a lot easier and laid back ? Fun times, uncomplicated lives, not a care in the world, no gizmos to peer into, great outdoors most of the time, good simple food and what not. Robert Schumann, the German composer went a step further. Not only did he throw his mind back to the time he was a child, he went ahead and composed a set of short musical pieces which , he said, were his adult reminiscences of his childhood. He titled this collection – Kinderszenen…Scenes from Childhood. A collection of 13 pieces, which he composed in 1838. The seventh piece is called Traumerei or Dreaming. These were composed for the piano.

Grapes | Photo by Jassy Onyae on Unsplash

This piece of classical music is over 175 years old and is still very popular as it has a gentle and timeless melody.If you are looking to travel back in time and insert yourself into some memorable moments from your childhood, sit back, open a nice light wine and allow the gentle tinkle of the keys slowly takeover your senses. This artiste has infused a lot of feeling in this piece and does justice to the context in which this music was written – as a set of recollections from childhood

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What wine would you want to be sipping to enjoy this music ? Choose a simple but delicious wine from Napa Valley , perhaps ? A Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 from Rutherford Ranch is the one I nursed one evening not long ago as I heard this music, among other pieces. This is a lovely wine which satisfies as does the music. The wine was not very complex and it suited me fine as I let the artiste take over one evening…and take me back in time with her wizardry on the keyboard. Here goes….

-Prabhakar Valivati