Context - analogy-of-the-suite-harmony-instead-of-hierarchy
We use the image of the baroque suite to understand our cuvées not as stages of a hierarchy, but as independent sentences of a whole.
The analogy of the suite is not a narrative image, but a conceptual model. It describes an order across time in which individual elements remain independent yet are related to a larger whole. The suite is not a theme, but a structure.
In music, a suite does not denote a linear progression, but rather a sequence of movements with distinct characters. Tempo, tension, and expression vary without sacrificing internal coherence. The connection arises not from uniformity, but from relationship.
Applied to wine, this analogy shifts the focus. Individual wines are not read in isolation, but as parts of a larger context. Their significance arises not solely from their individual characteristics, but from their position within a sequence.
The suite thus contradicts a widespread product-oriented mindset. It does not arrange things according to hierarchy or rank, but according to function and contrast. Different characters stand side by side, not to be comparable, but to create tension.
The crucial element is the timeline. A suite doesn't unfold in a single moment, but rather as it progresses. Meaning arises from sequence, from memory and anticipation. Each movement also has a retrospective effect on the preceding one and a foreshadowing effect on the next.
This way of thinking contrasts with point-by-point evaluation. The individual wine is not optimized for maximum presence in the present moment, but rather understood as part of a larger arc of experience. Its value lies not solely in its effect, but in its role within the overall experience.
The analogy of the suite allows us to tolerate diversity. One wine may be calm, another demanding. One may be readily understandable, another requires time. Homogeneity is not the goal, but coherence is.
This also shifts the perspective on maturity. Maturity is not an individual endpoint, but rather part of a temporal progression. A wine is not ripe or unripe in isolation, but is in a phase that makes sense within its context.
In this model, pausing takes on a distinct meaning. As in music, the pause is not an empty space, but rather an integral part of the form. The conscious non-progression, the waiting, the holding of a state, is not a delay, but a shaping action.
The suite analogy doesn't explain individual decisions in the vineyard or cellar. It describes an attitude towards time. Development isn't accelerated, but allowed. Change is observed, not forced.
This way of thinking also has consequences for perception. The focus shifts from evaluation to classification. Not every wine has to be immediately understandable, not every sentence needs to be instantly clear. Meaning arises from context, not from isolated effects.
The suite is therefore not a romantic image, but a structural counter-model to the logic of the instantaneous. It accepts diversity, time, and tension as constitutive elements of a work.
Applied to wine as an analogy, the suite does not describe music in a glass. It describes an order in which development takes precedence over effect and coherence is more important than the moment.