Fine wines are often deemed as precious, fascinating, or otherworldly, much like the alluring and eternal gemstones. We brought together the world of wines and gems, and the result is perfect luxury and inspiration.
Just like a gemstone, every wine is unique. Each wine has its character, color, taste, and uniqueness, and its production process is almost as complex and intricate as the formation of a mineral crystal.
Some fine wines are even more valuable and rare than certain precious and semi-precious minerals.
If a crystal is formed on a particular kind of rock and its beauty is a result of different components, the wine speaks of its terroir, specific climatic conditions, and grape blends.
Another very simple aspect brings wines and gemstones together: the color and transparency of wine and the different tonalities and shapes of grapes often resemble certain transparent gemstones.
The color is not only important to determine the value of a gem. It is also a relevant aspect of wine, providing information about age and freshness.
Different in form but similar at heart, gems and wines have more in common than first meets the eye. Discover some great wines and their respective gemstones.
The 2003 Chateau Latour is a special, opulent, and full-bodied Bourdeaux wine with a perfect score of 100 attributed by Robert Parker in 2013. It is a very ripe wine with great freshness, with distinct notes of creme de cassis and camphor and a touch of blackberries and chocolate.
Its deep dark ruby color is reminiscent of the fiery mystery of the namesake gem, much like the famously saturated pigeon-blood rubies from Myanmar.
The stunning 2006 Vintage Dom Pérignon shows beautiful aromas of almond and powdered cocoa, which develop into white fruit with a touch of dried flowers. Classic toasted notes provide a rounded finish and reveal the fully realized maturity of the wine.
This vintage’s taste balances density and weightlessness with a dark, tactile and chiseled precision, and its color and character evoke the sparkly beauty and perfection of a rare golden sapphire.
Sherry de la Frontera of 1775 is the oldest bottle of sherry from the Massandra winery in Crimea and the most expensive sherry wine. It was sold at an auction in London in 2001 for $43,500. This sweet and old wine, with its tawny color, equals the organic, honey-like appearance and eternal character of amber.
Quartz Reef Pinot Noir 2010 Central Otago is an intense red wine produced “the European way.” It shows an earthly depth with notes of dark plum, red cherries, and graphite-like mineralogy, displaying a great length and musky tannins with a sweet and spicy finish. The translucent deep, bright red of this wine evokes the rare beauty of red beryl.
Pape Clément Blanc 1998 is an exquisite white Bordeaux wine that, like the 2003 Chateau Latour, reached a stellar score of 100, also attributed by Robert Parker, in 2012. This white has honeysuckle, tropical fruits, green apple, citrus fruits, and floral aromas, excellent acidity, and texture.
It is a full-bodied wine that finishes with well-rounded tannins and excellent freshness. Its attractively intense deep gold color, with green-gold hints, takes us to the freshness of a pure yellow diamond.
On a lighter note, the 2014 Vidigal is a light, fresh young Vinho Verde from Portugal with a fruited aroma and hints of tropical fruits and flowers. It is slightly effervescent and sweet and pleasant in the mouth.
The light green color and transparency of peridot, a gem formed inside the earth’s mantle, makes it the perfect match for this citric-colored wine with pale greenish tones born in a traditional region.
