The very first thing that I purchased for Domestique was a pair of 1978 Klipsch Heresy speakers (see above). Guilhaume had found them on Craigslist months before we were set to open and sent them my way. I drove a few hours into Virginia and had a peculiar Craigslist encounter centered around an old man in a crumbling ranch house stacked to the brim with probably a quarter of a million dollars of vintage audio equipment. He insisted on playing every genre of music for me on the Heresy speakers before I could pay him and leave. They sound incredible and they've been a centerpiece of the shop ever since.
Being into music and working in natural wine doesn't make you unique or special. The natural wine world is overflowing with music people. David Lillie was a jazz musician before Chambers Street. Cider wizard Cyril Zangs plays the guitar in a rock band and has thousands of rare vinyl records. James Murphy is James Murphy. Last year, Madlib and Freddie Gibbs stopped by the shop after a Tiny Desk concert at nearby NPR. A few of our employees were near tears.
Still, when you discover the affinity between the two, it feels like serendipity. I've always loved pairing wine and music. It's so much more interesting than pairing wine and food, which is typically either about gustatory contrast or harmony. Pairing wine and music can be about joy, or anger, or sadness, or love. It can last for four minutes or four hours. The first wine and music pairing that stunned me wouldn't even appeal to me now. I was 24 years old. I drank the better part of an old bottle of Jacques Puffeney Vin Jaune while listening to The Velvet Underground & Nico. It messed me up. I still smile thinking about it.
Below are a few riffs on wine and music from friends of the shop and members of our team. We hope that you read them and think about the music that moves you. Wine is optional, but we're here to help. (See other blog posts)
- Jeff Segal
WINE I'M DRINKING RIGHT NOW: Axel Prufer's Le Temps des Cerises Capitulation Ne Paie Pas! 2019, COVID has me craving the same 0/0 bottles that made me fall in love with natural wine in the mid-2000s
LISTENING TO: Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem, same as above (but music instead of wine)
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Jeff Segal
