dear friends,
May is the perfect time to celebrate mothers and music! My mother Marilouise was truly a Renaissance woman, studying for her MD as well as singing with the San Francisco Symphony. She made her debut as a soloist in 1952, five years before meeting my dad. A lyric soprano, she was a descendant of Gioachino Rossini, the 18th-century Italian composer best known for his operas, The Barber of Seville and William Tell.
My grandmother Emma made all of my mother’s concert gowns. She and my mother would scour I. Magnin and City of Paris department stores to come up with fashion ideas and then work with the people at Britex fabric stores to figure out what would look good on stage. I still wear some of those classic beauties today.
The Lyric Opera of Chicago has celebrated Rossini’s works many times and has created a full Spotify playlist of his finest works for The Sonata Sessions, a digital series streamed on Lyric’s Facebook and YouTube channels. I am honored to participate in this year’s wine auction for the Lyric Opera as a Featured Vintner. Held on May 11-13, it will be my inaugural attendance with my bubbles. It is a truly memorable event held right on the Lyric stage engineered to foster exciting relationships between wine connoisseurs and vintners, with over 400 guests!
My auction lot is dinner for six at my home, where I’ll be opening wines from my cellar and pouring a vertical of my Sparkling Blanc de Noirs, vintages 2017 through 2020, as well as donating three magnums of my Paula Kornell Sparkling Brut. My dear friend, Chef Dave Cruz, will be in the kitchen.
While growing up, I was surrounded by classical music and opera. However today, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison are my mainstays! I am looking forward to starting the summer festivities off with BottleRock Napa Valley, a three-day music festival that combines the best of Napa’s wine and food scene with some of the biggest names in rock, pop, country and hip-hop, right in our backyard. It’s a seriously good time and this year, I can’t wait to hear my new favorite, Teddy Swims.
So, as we roll into May, celebrate what brings you joy, whether it’s Rossini or Elvis, Brut or Blanc de Noirs. I thank you for your support in helping me build my dream, Paula Kornell Sparkling Wine.
With sparkles,
Paula Kornell
SPRING SPARKLING DUO
The Paula Kornell Sparkling California Brut made its debut in 2017 and soon earned the #5 spot in Wine Enthusiast’s Top Wines of 2020. Made predominantly from Chardonnay with a percentage of Pinot Noir, the grapes that go into the wine are certified sustainable.
Pair it with my Napa Valley Blanc de Noirs from Mitsuko’s Vineyard, a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, awarded 90 points recently from wine critic Lisa Perrotti-Brown in The Wine Independent, who said, "the palate has impressive vivacity with fine, frothy bubbles."