Wine & Theatre: The Perfect Match
We catch up with Fiona Lindquist from SC Pannell, official wine partner of State Theatre Company South Australia. Fiona shares her insights into the surprising connection between winemaking and the Arts.
SC Pannell chooses a wine to match with each of State Theatre Company South Australia’s productions. How do you decide which wine should go with each show?
Words have power and meaning; wine can also convey meaning and, surprisingly, emotion.
The State Theatre Company South Australia team sends us a list of words associated with each of their shows. We look for the emotive words in these lists and try to align those emotions with what we see in the wine.
In the case of Dance Nation, we looked at the words brave, unapologetic, provocative and tenacious. We found this to be a perfect match with the SC Pannell Arido Rose, a blend made up of three varieties that you won’t often see together in an Aussie Rose: Mataro, Touriga Nacional and Grenache. This wine is more serious than most roses, not simple lolly-juice, but authentic and provocative, lending itself to a proper food match. It’s a wine that will cellar well despite being regarded as an early release, drink-it-young style.
What do you think makes wine and theatre such a good match?
Stephen and I have a deep love of the arts — and who doesn’t love a bit of theatre? On the stage, yes, but also in other aspects of life — whether through a risqué fashion statement, a spicy flourish when cooking a humble pie, or that extra grape variety or thought in the making of a bottle of wine.
Like artists, truly great winemakers are creative people with minds that don’t rest, drawing inspiration from the everyday and attempting to bring colour and light into the lives of others. Winemaking has more in common with the arts than people realise and often provides the reason for people to gather and once together provides the means to keep conversation flowing.
What has been your focus while facing the COVID-19 restrictions? How can our audience connect with you during this time?
We miss welcoming people to our cellar door and letting them discover us and all that we believe in through tasting the range, so we’re trying to connect with people in different ways — through social media, a phone call, an email or, heaven forbid, a video on YouTube (it might be the last time we convince Tom to do that one!).
Maintaining the connection with people who love our wine is the priority, whilst trying to make the best possible wine we can in a tough year.
The best way to connect with us is by joining the SC Pannell Cru Club, following us on Instagram, Facebook or visit our website. All going well our cellar door will be open again soon and we’d love a visit.
SC Pannell are offering a special deal for State Theatre Company South Australia audiences and supporters. Get 2019 Nero Diavola (x 2), 2018 Basso Garnacha (x 2) and 2018 Arido Rose (x 2) for the special price of $130 with free delivery (a saving of $47!). Simply add the 6-pack to your cart on the SC Pannell website and use the coupon code EVERY-WINE-HAS-A-STORY during check-out.
