Some of you may know that I am totally, irretrievably crazy about wine. I spent about a half year working for a winery in Sonoma, California running the wine bar, pouring tastings and conducting tours through the facility for guests. It was often we would get the wine maker to come in and taste wines or conduct tastings with us with the extra awesome perks of enjoying a free glass wine at the end of the day and taking open half opened bottles of wine that were not fresh enough to serve to guests.

      So this wonderful adventure as left me a long love of all things wine. Call me a snob, I embrace it if it means there is more wine for me!

      Being a Tarot reader, thoughts like the following are not too uncommon; what would the King of Pentacles drink? That led to a fun afternoon of matching wine varietals to all the court cards of the Tarot which I shall list below.  This will be a four part post for each suit.

The King of Pentacles is most likely a meat and potatoes kind of guy, (organic, locally sourced and grown humanely of course!) he is all about full bodied sustenance so for him it would be no less than a finely aged Cabernet Sauvignon to go with his hearty home cooked meal. A Cabernet Sauvignon with its cherry, tobacco and oak notes would match this King’s personal study surrounded by leather, antiques and maybe a cigar. No wimpy wines for this guy! Enjoy a glass with him as he walks with you down his favorite vineyard pausing every once in awhile to inspect the leaves and fruit.

The Queen of Pentacles likes her Zinfandel; a hearty fruit forward jammy dry wine to go with her artistic and profusive dinner creations meant to be enjoyed among special friends and family.

This Queen enjoys her luxuries and this is not the rose boxed Zinfandel of the early 90s but the full deep raspberry/purple of an old vine zine. She only drinks vintages from Zinfandel wines at least one hundred years old because this lady likes special things and enjoys the ripe fruit black berry jam with a dry finish that only Zinfandel provides. Zinfandel is a very approachable deep purple red knock out just like this Queen. Raise your glass and toast to this Queen and watch the candle light through the glass of very rare cut crystal wine reminiscent of garnets.

The Knight of Pentacles is a lot like his father but more active and youthful. This Knight would most likely have a flask of Syrah on the pommel of his horse for the light picnic luncheon in which he intends to stop for a midday meal. This guy does not eat and run.

The Syrah is known to be the steady back bone of many powerful red wine blends just like this man, he is the steady framework allowing all the other airy fairies to dance and flit above him, notice the espresso and chocolate notes within the wine and oddly around the Knight. Lay back and enjoy a glass on a blanket under a shade tree with the Knight and listen to the crickets chirping in the grass.

The Page of Pentacles girl would most likely enjoy a fine pinot noir. Like the rest of her family she likes fine things and good food and Pinot Noir is an excellent well balanced lighter red that pairs very well with a wide variety of food. This wine is not full bodied but has an energy and structure most like this young page.

The Pinot Noir is also known for its heady, earthy scent that then dissipates quickly after drinking. The Pinot always reminded me of the promise of opportunity not yet realized and like this Page, hints of things great to come. Enjoy a glass of this with the Page on your brief respite from running through the castle maze with her, don’t be surprised if she also has cheese and meats that are perfectly suited to the vintage.

     So what do you think? Are you drawn to Pentacles or have a Pentacle as a significator? What kind of wines do you like and do you think they should be different than the ones I assigned here? Next up the Swords suit!