The Music and Wine Connection: Wow and Flutter for the win!
You may recall that our packed itinerary for this nonstop Napa weekend was put together mostly by our friend Michael over at Arrow&Branch. However, some of this trip we planned ourselves. Case in point: back when we purchased the Joseph Jewell Wines auction lot that led to me throwing my first-ever tasting event (click HERE and HERE for those posts), we additionally purchased an entirely different lot which consisted of a case of wine from another niche Sonoma-based winery, plus a private lunch with the owners/winemaker.
That winery was Wow and Flutter. At 2023’s High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction Friday Uncorked Gala, I wound up seated right next to the founder and co-owner Jenifer Freebairn. At that time, she was there representing Lasseter Family Winery, a very respected organic producer based in Glen Ellen, California that’s owned by the famed feature film animator (and former CCO of Pixar Studios and the Walt Disney Animation Studios) John Lasseter. She is their VP of Sales and Marketing.
Her husband John Martin makes wine for Metzger Family Estates. But, in their own time, they both co-own and run Wow and Flutter.
Jenifer and I chatted, and soon realized we had much more in common than just fine wines. It turns out that — much like me — she is a professional musician (in my case a hard rock drummer and in her case, a talented singer-songwriter), and that’s how their winery got its unusual name.
Audiophiles and folks who work in analog audio and video recording should recognize the term “wow and flutter.” It’s a standard form of measurement for the tiny — yet still noticeable — imperfections caused by slight mechanical “wobbles” which are an inherent by-product of capturing sound and/or visuals on analog tape (or a vinyl record, for that matter).
You’ve all heard wow and flutter before, whether you called it that or not. In small doses, it’s quite subtle, and often indistinguishable to many people. But trust me: the more of it which can be noticed on a tape or record, the less authentic a reproduction of whatever sounds or visuals were captured. The less of it, the purer and more accurate a representation. Most serious recording engineers carefully calibrate their equipment to reduce wow and flutter as much as humanly possible. The lower the amount, the more bragging rights you’ll have around hi-fi nerds. Since John served a lengthy stint early on in his professional life as an audio engineer (he also managed one of Jenifer’s early bands), this inside reference resonated (pun intended) with them both.
Jenifer and I shared clips of our respective musical efforts at that dinner, and I could immediately tell she was a serious artist and performer. I would soon come to learn that many of the musicians she has collaborated with (some of whom appear on her albums and/or alongside her at live gigs) are real “A-Listers.” The kind of players who are routinely seen and heard with the likes of Wilco, Lucinda Williams, St. Vincent, Joni Mitchell, k.d. Lang, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne, among others. You can check out a few of her music videos below.
As soon as I knew we were headed to Napa, I reached out to see if having that lunch with she and John would be convenient while we were in their area. It was, and we firmed up plans to meet. We and our guests Rami and Keiko planned to join Jenifer and John for lunch at a great little restaurant of her choosing called Market in the town of St. Helena. It was a very solid sort of “locals-only” eatery we felt lucky to be introduced to. Several other wine producers were eating there at the same time as us, and those who knew Jenifer made a point to come over and say hello. This reminded me of my hometown of Savannah, Georgia, which despite its growing tourism industry still retains the feel of a small, close-knit town.
Unfortunately, John was recovering from recent surgery (don’t worry, he’s doing great), and was not able to join us. As an apology (which was lovely, but certainly not required), he kindly sent along a bottle of Metzger wine and made sure we knew he looked forward to meeting us the next time we were in the region. We will look forward to that, as well!
Our meal was amazing, and when Jenifer learned we weren’t opposed to starting with a white wine, she suggested a 2021 Ridge Grenache Blanc and explained to Rami and Keiko about the background of that producer. I’m very familiar with Ridge, as they’re one of the earliest Napa wineries still around today which are still highly-regarded.
We then moved on to the main course, and that was paired with Wow and Flutter’s 2022 Pinot Noir from the Klopp Ranch in the Russian River Valley. That vineyard is rather legendary for producing some of the finest Pinot Noir since the late 1990s.
I certainly recalled liking their wines before, but that bottle was easily the best of Wow and Flutter’s offerings I’ve ever had. Dio agreed, and both couples wound up purchasing their own case of this vintage. Since only 190 cases were produced, it’s already something of a delicious collectible. And it is also emblazoned with the winery’s very cool label design (by graphic artist Thomas Ingmire), which cleverly blends the physicality of actual wow and flutter with a nod to the rolling countryside where the grapes are grown.
Coming up next: our trip to Bella Oaks Vineyard…
