Jacqueline Doucette’s Curated Journey from Geranium to Playlist
Drop 10 | Season 01
Ranked the number 1 restaurant worldwide in 2022, Copenhagen’s 3 Michelin Star Geranium is as big as it gets. So you could say their Head Sommelier, Jacqueline Doucette, knows a thing or two about wine. For Drop 10, Jacqueline curated and paired 12 wines and had a sit-down chat with us about wine, music, and life after Geranium.
Jacqueline Doucette shines bright in the wine universe.
With an uncanny ability to pair wines that resonate, she doesn't merely choose wines; she curates experiences. And her passion doesn't stop at wine—she and her partner continuously curate a playlist for the wine bar they plan to open someday. Now, with a new role in Australia with the Merivale Group, she's bringing her expertise to Sydney’s thriving wine scene.
Drop 10 Interview | Sept 01, 2023
Playlist’s Matt Friesen: Jackie, you're a sommelier and a music lover - if you were a wine, what genre of music would you be and why?
Jacqueline Doucette: I'd like to say something really cool, but I feel like I'd be pop. Which is not really my shtick, but I think I'm generally pretty likable and I'm pretty unoffensive. Not many people put you on purposefully, but if it's playing, it's like... Yeah, that's fine. You know?
MF: I kind of love that because, I don't know if this is the same for you, but there are mainstream pop artists that I don't think I'm that into, but then I know all of their songs, and I know all the lyrics.
JD: Taylor Swift. Why do I know so many Taylor Swift songs? I've never made an effort to listen to her, and yet I know so many of her songs.
Wine, words, & music by Jacqueline Doucette
Julian Haart’s
2022 Riesling Kabinett JJ
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 1
“My theory is that there are two kinds of people: People Who Love Riesling, and People Who Haven’t Had Good Riesling. Julian Haart is a gateway Riesling. The entry-level cuvées like this JJ are delicious and as meticulously made as any of the other single vineyard wines. Yes, it has sweetness, but the acidity of this wine is what holds everything together.”
“Does this song displease anyone? How can you not like it? When I was around 13, De La Soul was my first introduction to what would become a decades-long love affair with hip-hop. People who say they don’t like hip-hop obviously haven’t heard De La Soul. My colleague Andrea will agree with me as we have discussed this to great lengths.”
MF: Can you share a memory of when a song enhanced your wine-tasting experience or vice versa?
JD: The one that comes to mind the most is Daft Punk Is Playing At My House by LCD Sound System.
So our friend imports Ochota Barrels into Copenhagen. Normally we'll get six of everything that they produce, which is cool. Then we got two of this random wine; Botanicals of the Basket Range. It's this aromatized wine that is not quite a vermouth because it wasn't fortified, but it's basically a red wine with all sorts of herbs and flowers.
It was our friend’s 30th birthday and we thought, let's bring this to his party because he’s weird and he'll appreciate this. There were like 25 of us there in his house in the middle of nowhere in Denmark. We were eating pork terrine alarmingly fast and I felt terrible after. I remember when we drank it we were all like, “Oh, that's actually pretty delicious.” I remember that song was playing. I think it just made it that much more memorable.
MF: I'm the same way. I'll hear a song and it'll take me back to a memory instantly.
JD: My mom listened to a lot of Dave Matthews Band growing up. We're good New Englanders, you know. Anytime I hear Ants Marching, that the snare at the beginning of it, I always think I’m picking my brother up after school or something like that. A lot of my memories are cemented in that particular Under the Table and Dreaming album, which is strange because I don't listen to it often.
Envínate’s
2021 Paolo Blanco
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 2
“From the island of Tenerife, these wines are always so lean and salty and I love the tautness on the palate that this wine has. Listán Bianco (aka Palomino) from its finest source. This wine has a true sense of place – you can tell it came from a volcanic island. Concrete egg aging rounds the wine out, and the reduction on the nose makes me weak. One of the few wines that I will always seek out and drink no matter the price.”
“When this album came out, it was my least favorite song on it. I was never sure if I liked it or not, but then it grew on me in the same way that this wine did. I love the rhythm section in this song. Tight, crisp hi-hats and a juicy fill lead to a mean bass lick around 2 and a half minutes in…the song grows in a way that a great wine builds and lingers on your palate.”
MF: We've heard of love at first sight, but have you ever experienced love at first sip? Tell us about the wine and how it swept you off your feet.
JD: The Taganon Blanco by Envínate. I just remember tasting the wine and being like, “Oh, that's fucking delicious”. If you think of it in terms of milk, like one and a half percent, two percent, whole milk, or cream, these Envínate wines are like skim milk. They're really laser-sharp and quite linear. I love that it's a little bit reductive on the nose. I love the body of the wine. They're very complex wines. The longer they sit in your glass and the more you think about them.
Kumeu River’s
2021 Hunting Hill Chardonnay
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 3
“My number one argument is when anyone says that the New World can’t make good wine. It cannot possibly be! There is so much acidity! It smells like Meursault! It’s so well-balanced! The New World Strikes Again!! Is it from New Zealand?? Yes, it is.”
“Is this Led Zeppelin??
Yes, it is.”
MF: You're known for your approach to wine curation - how do you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving world of wine?
JD: You talk to other people. You have to read a lot and speak to other people. A lot of it is just about being curious. Wine is a bit scary because if you don't know it, you're less willing to purchase it. What if you waste your money and it's not delicious?
My colleague, Andrea, shares the Head Somm position because we both sort of started at Geranium at the same time. We're both equally qualified and we're very complimentary of one another. We're pretty open in that way. We are looking for an archetype of a wine or an archetype of a flavor. For example, right now we're trying to find something from South Africa. It's a lot of reading, speaking to our importers, and trying to figure it out. Just being curious really is the best way to do it.
MF: So even at the top level, there's still a really an element of discovery.
JD: There has to be, you can never know everything. In wine, once you decide you know everything, you’re not doing well. It's not possible. I'm constantly reminded every day that I don't know everything. It's a very humbling profession in that way.
Alban’s
2020 Central Coast Viognier
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 4
“Alban has long made my preferred style of California Viognier, and I think opulent is the best way to describe it. Incredibly concentrated flavors of ripe stone fruits, flowers, and butter give way to one of the most oily, mouth-coating palates I’ve encountered. Complex and well-balanced. Enough to keep me coming back to it over all these years. Groovy.”
“Big, funky reggae sounds from one of my all-time favorite bands. This song is summer and the most appropriate way to listen to it is on a speaker, loud, in the sun (the only other acceptable way would be live at a Fat Freddy’s show.) Songs like this feel “full.” Big brass, big vocals, big bass.”
MF: If you could share a bottle of wine with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and what wine would you choose?
JD: That’s a bit tough! John Bonham. I feel like he's not a very serious person. Or maybe he was a very serious person. I don't know. Is red wine serious? I don't know. It feels more serious to me.
I think it would be with Littorai’s Wendling Vineyard Pinot. It's one of the first American wines that I really fell in love with. It's a wine that is very comfortable for me. When I'm talking about wine and meeting new people I want to drink something that I am comfortable with, that I love very much, and that I feel comfortable expressing that love for.
Does that make sense? My dad always loved John Bonham as well. And we used to do this thing wherever we were in his car, he would put the radio on and be like, okay, who's this? And who's the drummer?
Commando G’s
2021 La Bruja de Rozas
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 5
“La Bruja de Rozas is not an “angry” wine to me, and in fact, it is quite the opposite. The reds are made from old vine grenache planted on the steep mountainsides of the Sierra do Gredos west of Madrid, meticulously farmed and vinified by Dani Landi and Fernando García. Their archetype was the most famous Grenache in the world – Château Rayas. The Bruja de Rozas is impossibly lean and high-toned for a grenache and reminds me a lot of a Pinot Noir, just in boots. The wine is tense, with sharp tannin and the first sip can feel unapproachable. I immediately liked these wines the first time that I tried them. The more I come back to them, the more nuance I discover and the more uplifting they are, to the same effect as listening to Fontaines D.C.”
“Fontaines D.C. has been in my head for the better part of 3 years now. Their music has a melancholic post-punk sound to it that reminds me of what I used to listen to growing up. Grian Chatten’s vocals are ever so shy of being monotoned, and at first listen their music is haunting and sounds…bad? It’s not pleasurable, in most cases, to listen to. I spent all of 2020 obsessing over their sophomore album A Hero’s Death. Their music feels angry and I have to be in a particular mood to listen to it, even if the lyrics are not angry or melancholic.”
MF: If you had to describe your wine and music style using only three words, what would they be?
JD: Instinctive, emotional, and knowledgeable. That would be it. Love it!
Chanin’s
2020 Los Alamos Pinot Noir
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 6
“California wine gets a bad rap. Gavin Chanin’s wines are delicious. They are such pure expressions of California fruit! Juicy, ripe berries, green herbaceousness, and cherry licorice. They’re effortless and tightly wound, impeccably balanced. One of my favorite homages to a place that I love dearly, which is very misunderstood in the general wine world. America can make impressive wines, in the hands of the right people. Bluegrass can be forward-thinking and beautiful with the right talent. THIS is what California wine is.”
“Bluegrass, to me, is pure comfort. Nobody does bluegrass like the Punch Brothers. The band covered Tony Rice’s folk masterpiece (the whole album is an homage to Rice’s 1983 Church Street Blues) in great stride with a 5-piece string ensemble. How do you pay homage to a storied musician without copying and pasting? Can an entire genre of music be lopped into one box of insufferable banjo picking and crooning? It cannot.”
MF: As someone working at the highest level in restaurants, you know how important ambiance is for enhancing a dining experience. Beyond the traditional elements like lighting and decor, how do you think music plays a role in creating the perfect atmosphere?
JD: Oh, it plays a huge role. Geranium is the perfect example of this.
When I first started, we had a playlist that we used to dance and mouth the words to in the dining room. They changed it because everyone in the front of the house was singing along a bit too much - like we were making fun of it.
We switched to a hip-hop soundtrack that included Jurassic 5, Nas, and this sort of thing. It felt a little out of place at Geranium because it can be a jarring experience to have two things that are so different juxtaposed against one another. You're listening to somebody swear profusely and talking about shooting people in New York City while you’re eating beautiful food. That was a bit strange.
We then let each member of the staff pick out a song, which made for a really fun playlist, but we never had more complaints about the music because it was all over the place. But the staff was having a great time!
Now we have a playlist that was curated for us by a Danish band called Efterklang, and it's very nice. There are no lyrics and it's one giant mix of seven hours of music. And now we don't have any comments about the music. Like it's there, but it's not. It's no longer overpowering any other part of the experience.
So I think music plays a huge, huge role in the dining experience. My partner and I plan to open up our own wine bar one day, and half of the things we talk about are the wine we need to buy, and the other half the music we are going to play. Like, this is no joke. We have a playlist on Spotify called Future Wine Bar Songs!
So I think it's a huge part and makes such a big difference.
MF: It's funny you talked about Geranium, as I honestly have no recollection of the music at all.
JD: Exactly. You notice it when it's not there. It's deafening when it's not there, otherwise, you would never notice it.
MF: I’m pretty sure I would have noticed Nas or Jurassic 5.
JD: You would have also noticed the sweet old Danish music.
Catherine et Pierre Breton’s
2020 Nuits d’Ivresse
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 7
“Finally, an argument for wine without sulfur added that is actually age worthy. For this cuvée, Catherine and Pierre use Cabernet Franc from Bourgueil in France’s Loire Valley. Cab Franc makes very perfumed, dark fruited red wines that have an element of “greenness” interlaced with pencil lead and black pepper. Nuits d’Ivresse is a layered, serious wine with edges softened by supple tannin and bright red fruit. Whereas Cabernet Sauvignon is like a symphony, I’ve always thought of Cabernet Franc as a bit more rock and roll.”
le Piane’s
2021 Colline Novaresi
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 8
“Historically, Nebbiolo has been vinified in two opposing techniques; One way consists of long maceration and then undergoes aging in large, old oak barrels, and the other implicates the use of aging in new oak to soften the harshness of the tannin. Le Piane leans towards the former method. When I think Nebbiolo, I always think autumn. I rarely reach for it in the summer, and I’m always worried I haven’t given the wine enough time to mature before I decide to open it. Le Piane’s wines were a bit of an epiphany for me, in that they were the first time I tried a Nebbiolo that wasn’t masochistic and absurdly tough to drink (this was very early on in my career.) They are delicate and wandering, easy to sit and reminisce upon.”
“Ben Howard’s music is moody and dark, and he always sings like he is whispering in your ear. It’s delicate and powerful without being overbearing; he makes his point without shouting at you. Le Piane gets to the point with their Nebbiolo. They emphasize the delicacy of the grape just enough for you to recognize that it’s Nebbiolo, but they aren’t screaming in your face.”
MF: If you had to plan a heist with three famous musicians, who would you choose for your crew and what roles would they play in your master plan?
JD: What does my heist entail? Is it like, stealing data or is it robbing a bank?
MF: It's robbing a bank or maybe fine art from the Louvre. Something like that.
JD: Okay. Snoop Dogg. He'd be useful. I feel like he'd be really useful in ways that I can't predict.
Phil Collins. I feel like he'd also be very useful because he’s very talented, you know? Multi-talented. He'd be very useful.
And oh gosh, what's his name from Queen? The astrophysicist. What's his name with the hair from Queen? You know it. Oh my god. Brian May! Brian May, because he's smart.
MF: That's quite the crew.
JD: One to organize. One to distract. And one to… you know? I don’t know how successful we’d be, but we’d give it a go.
Standish’s
2021 The Standish Shiraz
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 9
“Standish makes the sexiest shiraz I’ve tasted. I hate to describe a wine like that but sometimes it’s the most fitting. They’re full-bodied, meaty, slatey, floral, plummy, jammy masterpieces.”
“I don’t mean to say that Prince is meaty and full-bodied but I think the song speaks for itself.”
MF: In your opinion, what are some common misconceptions about wine that you'd like to debunk?
JD: That it is only for wealthy people, or like people that are very posh. I think that’s a big one. It doesn't need to be a posh beverage. I have been very un-posh drinking wine many, many times.
That it has to be expensive to be delicious. That's another big one.
And that all wine tastes the same. Those are my big three!
Apostolos Thymiopoulos’s
2020 Earth and Sky
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 10
“Greek wines can be very confusing and thus are terribly misunderstood. The labels are in Greek, the grapes aren’t French vinifera, the geography is complicated, and the PDO Wines of Greece (AOQS/AOP) are relative newcomers to the European geographical indication lexicon. For example, take “Champagne”, “Chablis”, or even “Montalcino,” most novice wine drinkers will already have an association with the type of wine that word connotates. But “Naoussa”? “Rapsani”? “Goumenissa”? Agh. The grape Xinomavro has long produced some of my favorite wines. Notable for their savory tomato leaf character and structure, these wines can age for decades. Thymiopoulos is a bit of a rebel with his wines, more apt to experiment and go against the traditional way of vinifying Xinomavro in Naoussa. Approachable when young and stunning when aged.”
“Radiohead’s music is very complex and layered, and a great argument that rock has a myriad of subgenres. I remember listening to Hail To the Theif on repeat during a ski holiday when I was 12 years old because it was the only downloaded album I had on my iPod. Would I have rather listened to something else? Sure, but I didn’t have that option. Sometimes the best way to discover new music (and new wine) is to make yourself a little uncomfortable and go with what you don’t already know.”
MF: Picture yourself as a contestant on a wine-themed reality show, competing against other sommeliers. What would be your winning strategy, and what song would be your entrance theme?
JD: There are sommelier competitions, and I am quite averse to them because I'm totally terrified of failure. I cannot fail. I refuse to fail. I will win. I will be the best. I’m a bit maniacal in that way.
My winning strategy? I feel like I'm sneaky. I'm not outwardly sneaky, but I don't always express how much I know. And I think that can surprise a lot of people. The people who know me very well, and the sommeliers who are my colleagues, know that I am very intelligent, but I don't always advertise how much information I actually know.
I'm not a very showy sommelier. I don't always post on Instagram. I don't do competitions. I’ll give you as much information as you want, but I don't volunteer it. So I feel like staying quiet and only answering the question is the way to go. Once you start volunteering information, then you open it up for questions and that's when you screw up.
So that's my strategy!
MF: The silent killer of wine!
JD: Right? And my theme song? That's tough. It's tough to describe yourself in a song.
MF: Maybe think of it another way. What is a song that gets you hyped?
JD: Oh god, I don't know. If I think about the song I play when I have a big day at work or I'm about to go to the gym, it's always Mr. Brightside, which is a little bit embarrassing and so basic, but wow, what a tune.
MF: What a tune. Love it. I think that's great.
JD: We can make it Mrs. Brightside.
Ochota Barrels’
2022 Botanicals of the Basket Range
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 11
“I have so many emotions tied up in Ochota Barrels wines. Every time I try one of their wines it feels like a monumental occasion. At Geranium, I served Amber’s cuvee “Devastate” to a couple who had just married. The wine was the first she made without her late husband, Taras. I cried opening it, the guests cried with me. When you
understand the context of the human being who made the wine in your glass, it feels like you should be celebrating every minute that you get to drink someone else’s passion.”
“We drank this on ice at one of my best friends’ 30th birthday party with this song blasting out of his speakers, shoving pork terrine in our faces with such reckless abandon that I would be concerned if I were watching as a bystander. I brought the wine and didn’t realize it was aromatized. The surprise on everyone’s faces as we, a group of *Very Serious Sommeliers*, took a sip and realized that none of us actually knew what we were doing, was something to behold.”
“You were terrible. Block. You were terrible. Block. Delete. Goodbye. Terrible.”
MF: Working at Geranium, one of the world's top restaurants, you must have had some wild experiences. Can you share a story of the most unforgettable customer reaction to a wine you've served?
JD: I think unforgettable is hard because I feel like they're negative, which isn’t a bad thing.
There was one guest in particular who knew a lot about wine and they'd been to the restaurant a few times. I thought I was having a good day. But when I poured for them they said, “I think that's corked”.
Okay, no harm, no foul, fair enough, I might have missed something, all good. I went back into the Gaggenau (which are the fridges that we use to store the wine, so we call the wine service room the Gaggenau.) I went back into Gaggenau and tasted the wine and was like, I think that's fine.
So I opened another bottle. Tasted it again. And thought it was fine. So I went back to the table and they looked at me and said, sorry to tell you that it’s corked again. I'm like, jesus christ, okay, all right. So I carried on with it. Went with a third bottle and they finally said it was fine. Great!
With the next wine, I went up to them and they said, it's corked again! I'm very sensitive to cork, but they were saying “It's very hard to find. You have to be a really talented sommelier to catch this”. I'm like, oh my god, you have not only insulted me once but three times in a row. So that's pretty unforgettable. It can be a harsh environment to work in.
MF: That must have been horrible at the moment, but it does make for a great story.
JD: Oh, sure. I cried at the end of the night. I was so angry. And then they followed me on Instagram and said, “Thank you. We had an amazing night.”
You were terrible. Block. You were terrible. Unfollow. Delete. Goodbye. Terrible.
MF: Someone is corked… and it’s not the wine.
Hatzidakis’
2004 Vin Santo 16
Jacqueline’s Picks | Wine 12
“Dessert wine is special and should be treated as such! This is not the fortified Italian Vin Santo – but a blend of indigenous white grapes Assyrtiko and Aidani. These overripe grapes undergo a stint of drying in the sun, then are aged in oak casks for 16 years in Hatzidakis’ cellars. Haridimos Hatzidakis in his heyday was arguably one of the fathers of modern Greek viniculture, but since his shocking passing in late summer 2017, his children have taken over the winery. Drink this with strong cheeses, sticky toffee pudding, or just by itself.”
“Andrew Bird’s voice is sweet and enveloping, and his whistling ability is swoon-worthy. He also plays violin, guitar, and percussion. I also happen to think dessert wine can wear many hats as well and need not only serve as a final wine.”
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Thanks for Reading
Revisit your favorite wine or listen to Jacqueline’s full playlist below
