“You drink my torment like wine.” – Papa Legba
What better way to spend a cold winter’s evening than with a
bottle of red wine and something spooky to binge watch? The only better way
might be brewing up a potion and practicing spells in your lair, but in lieu of
that we’ll do the wine thing.
American Horror Story is especially good for binge watching
because each season can be watched as an individual and complete show. It’s
great because you can go in any order, you can watch just one or all three
current seasons. This particular season, the third, centering around a coven of
witches in modern day New Orleans was the most anticipated and according to
some critics the most disappointing. Coven certainly had a lot of promise and
also a considerable amount of failures. The plot seemed to wander and fell
apart at the end of the season and the character and theme development only
made it half way to where we wanted them to go… BUT. I want to talk about the
things that I loved about Coven.
#3: HATS. But seriously, the fashion in this season is
incredible. Inspiring. From the glamorous diva looks of Madison Montgomery
(Emma Roberts as pictured above) to the morose teenage styling of Zoe Benson (Taissa Farmiga) to
the straight up coo-coo looks rocked by Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy), the looks
are over the top in just the right way. Not to mention Jessica Lange’s tempting
succubus character: Fiona Goode. If I keep talking about this, I’ll write all
night.
#2: Bitchcraft. This is not just the name of the pilot
episode of the season. Even though the final catfight between Misty Day and
Madison went a little off message from the show’s original girl power spirit,
we all enjoyed the bitchy banter and stone cold one liners that the show delivered.
When Madison woke up (from being dead that is) and said, “I need a cigarette,”
I laughed so hard wine came out my nose.
#1: A different kind of creep. Season one of AHS was spooky
like a ghost story should be: a classic tale of a haunted house. Season two was
down right terrifying, gory to the point of being visually sickening and
fascinating at the same time. Season three however has something different. The
things going bump in this season are the characters own wills and desires, the
things that scare us the most: greed, lust, the desire for power.
#0: This is too important for a number. Stevie Freaking
Nicks. The White Witch joined the cast as a guest star, showing up in two
episodes and starring in a trippy, fantastical musical number that opened the
finale. Stevie, in all of her shawl twirling glory, has still got it. The
Fleetwood Mac heavy soundtrack leads me to the wine that was the perfect
pairing for this season…
Rhiannon, a 2011 California Red Wine, comes to us from Rutherford, the
Family Owned Winery of the Year 2012 (New York International Wine Competition). The incredible, perfect, fitting name aside, the spirit of this wine is in the exact right place. The label tells us that it is a tribute to the family’s Welsh roots, named after and inspired by the Welsh goddess Rhiannon. A blend of
Petite Sirah, Barbera and Zinfandel, this wine is as smooth as Fiona Goode’s
lies. Be careful, because it will put the devil in you before you even notice.
Rhiannon tastes how I imagine that magic works, subtly yet powerfully. I definitely
wouldn’t call it sweet, but there is nothing hard about it. I can imagine it
rolling around on my tongue with no sharp corners. There is a little bite, a
little something underneath that I can only call complexity, but none of the
bitter after taste that some reds have. As the bottle says, it is indeed, “divine.”
Pairing Notes: Drink and watch this combo when you’re in a
dark and mysterious mood. Be sure to light white candles to keep away evil
spirits, wear all black and gather your sistaaaaahs (said in the style of Bette
Midler in Hocus Pocus) around you.
Movie Facts from IMDB.
More wine information here.
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