Wine, Dine, and Design Fun with the Picard Season 2 Premiere “The Star Gazer”

SPOILER WARNING: Star Trek Picard: Episode 1, Season 2, and Season 1 conclusion

Please Note:
This post is not sponsored, the article is about lifestyle and design from the Star Trek world, identifying types of items and their purpose, and sometimes sourcing pieces actually used in the series. It’s purely for design appreciation geekery.

Please also note:
Besides all the scrumptious Federation Starships we were treated to, there is a large amount of tableware highlights and some interior design to talk about. (For all about the sexy starships, check out the breakdown by Dave Blass here on Twitter.)

And most of all note:
This is not to hate on anyone or anything. I am just digging through the lore and real life wine growing regions in France and trying to align a few things.

Story context:
The second season of Star Trek Picard starts with high stakes: Red Alert and the Stargazer crew fighting against what looks like an intruding masked Borg Queen. Admiral Picard is on the bridge with Captain Rios, Jurati and Seven, trying to solve the mystery of what the Borg sovereign with the very untypical ship would want from him. Mirroring the First Contact Film Situation on the Enterprise E, Picard starts a self-destruct sequence as a last resort against this royal incursion. It’s messy, but I personally like it. The whole season.

Futuristic winemaking fun

But now to the wine and design part: We get to see a nice bit of winemaking at Château Picard on harvest day. One of my personal favorite moments is the 25th century ability to extract grapes from the vines with a transporter. This is next level, oenology magic, and makes me wonder if this could theoretically make a difference to the resulting wine in the end?

Tasting guess: Picard makes wine in Burgundy, not Bordeaux. This is important for estimating what a glass of his wine might taste like

Left: The Season two premiere gives us wine boxes labeled “Grand vin de Bordeaux”
Right: The season one teaser trailer one gives us resting bottles of Burgundy wine with the correct label, yet in Bordeaux bottles.

Wine is a highly geographical beverage and Star Trek Picard has some serious geographical problems (image on the left): It has long been established, since Star Trek: The Next Generation, that Château Picard is in La Barre, Haute-Saône, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. That’s in Burgundy, not Bordeaux. I can only speculate how this error occurred, but Burgundy(Bourgogne) is in the Mid-East (shown in teal on the map) and Bordeaux (dark purple area) in the South-West. (Memory Alpha says Picard wines are Bordeaux, but La Barre, the real place, is linked in the article, that is the place in Burgundy.)

So if we want to get an idea about how a glass of Château Picard might taste like, the first step is to take a look at what grapes are typical for the region of France the Picards have their winery in. This will even tell us a little about the grapes grown in the region. We might not have any direct information on screen about grape varieties, but if we assume that the wines made in 25th Century Burgundy are mostly still the traditional pinot noir (red) and chardonnay (white) varieties, we are getting closer. Picturd below, we have Picard in the premiere of season one drinking out of a very fishbowly glass. The glass shape and might give us more hints to back up the claim, that he is indeed drinking a pinot noir.

They got the wrong bottle, but the right glass

First the bottle, to get that out of the way: Burgundy pinot noirs come in sloped shoulder bottles, whereas wines from Bordeaux are sold in ones with high shoulders. And this is where they mixed things up in season one: The label was correct, but the bottle is Bordeaux.

Despite this messy situation, I am glad to see the fishbowl glass from Season one did prevail, and did not get bordeauxified like the bottles and boxes. But what does this round shape tell us about what to expect of the wine?

(French) Red Wine Glass Technicalities: What style and flavors can you expect?

Let’s start with the basics: If you are interested in wine, you most likely will have heard or read about Burgundy and Bordeaux glasses. Both types have longish stems holding large bowls. But why are they shaped the way they are? The shape is deliberate, because where each wine touches the tongue first, does make a difference to the drinking experience.

These very specific shapes bring out the best of different varietals made in each of both regions: As already mentioned above, where the vineyard is located, tells us about the grape, but also what wine specialists discuss as “typicality” and “terroir”. While terroir is all about the soil grapes grow on, the regional climate also matters, because that has effects on the end product: What are the winters like there? How much sunlight do they get? This can, of course, vary from year to year. Different vintages have varying qualities. Also, a pinot noir from a different part of the World can be very much different from those made in Burgundy, making typicality of a wine, very much a region thing.

The assumed Picard pinot noir is a lighter, fragrant, elegant red, that is enhanced by the Burgundy fishbowl. The size and shape allows the wine to touch the tip of the tongue first. This accentuates fruity aromas and sweetness of lighter (red) wines, that are naturally more on the acidic side.

The hunky Bordeaux glass on the other hand, accentuates heavier reds like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Malbec grown in the warmer region of Bordeaux. The large bowl base, with a tall height, allows for the right amount of oxygen to enter the glass, so that the stronger aromas can be optimally enjoyed. The elongated shape transports each sip directly on to the center of the tongue, allowing for an optimal balance between tannins, fruity aromas and moderate acidity to be tasted.
(Side note: Some people, myself included, do use both shapes made for red wine, also for good quality whites, because they actually are like larger siblings of white wine glasses, just with more room for aromas to develop. So why not make use of that? I usually put most dry, crisp whites in a Bordeaux glass, and rosé or chardonnays, the white grape of Burgundy, in a Burgundy vessel. )

What about the Picard merch wine? Is that not the same as on screen?

Paramount/CBS caught on to people wanting to drink the Picard wine and came up with what I will call “merch wine”, to meet that demand. I do not get to taste any of that, because these wines are only available in the States, even though they are imported from France. And this is where the Bordeaux-ness hits again:

The “Château Picard” wine is a Bordeaux from Saint-Estèphe. The website describes it as a “85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot blend that is subtly smoky and spicy with a bright, fresh, clean-tasting style. The wine spends 14 months in oak, 70% seasoned and 30% new”. You will want to drink that from a Bordeaux glass. So there is a discrepancy from what lore tells us: Picard: Bourgogne and what is shown and sold as Picard wine: Bordeaux. For wine lovers like me, it’s not a tragedy but makes a great difference. Yet I can imagine reasons between marketing for the tastes of a large audience and pricing (Burgundy can be expensive), that they opted for a Bordeaux instead, and reflected that on the wine boxes shown above.

Château Picard interior looks

In some other château scenes, we are treated to some new shots of Picard’s study room and library. I quite like it, yet those pictures hanging over bookshelves are an interior decorating wedge issue. In the late 2010s, this became quite a big thing and people either thought it to be the epitome of style or just cluttered rubbish. As someone who does not like to be overwhelmed by optical clutter, I belong to the latter group. It’s too much for me personally, and also makes books inaccessible, if not hung strategically to turn pictures into “doors”, to cover up ugly binders maybe.

And Jean-Luc has that many books, he also keeps them in piles on the floor. I don’t blame him. I have been there myself. And it’s intersting to note, that the table they are standing at, contains many of the series easter eggs: The object behind the large magnifying glass is the Bajoran Reckoning Tablet we saw in Season 6 of Deep Space Nine. They did good with those details.

Saurian Brandy at Ten Forward in 25th Century Los Angeles

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Picard, in serious doubt, must be in want for a talk with Guinan.

This episode reveals that the El-Aurian has established a bar in 10, Forward Avenue in the “Historic District” of Los Angeles. It seems lots of places here are preserved and kept in their original state. This is interesting.

Picard and Guinan share a drink and have a heart-to-heart moment. While she offers him top-shelf or hooch, he goes for the hooch option, and she reaches for a bottle of Saurian Brandy sitting on top of the bar.

While this iconic, curved bottle in a harness is well-known by Star Trek fans, the bottle itself is a re-do of what is known as a Powderhorn Souvenir Bottle from the 60ies, by George Dickel Tennessee Whisky, which is now a collectible.

But what about flavor, aroma and the whole drinking experience of Saurian Brandy? It is a fictional, alien drink, wo we don’t have many earthly references. But we can stick to general wisdoms when it comes to correctly enjoying spririts: Going by the shot glasses used by Guinan, one could get the impression, that this brandy is nothing special. She reaches for the bottle after Picard chose hooch over top shelf booze.

Yet I have some doubts, and she should know better?! Guinan is an ancient bartender, after all. Also, the bottle is special, and we do know that Captain Sisko of Deep Space Nine appreciated Saurian Brandy a lot. Sisko being someone with refined tastes and a sense for flavor and good cooking, he would not be the kind to have cheap liquor amongst his favorites.

In Deep Space Nine season six, Saurian Brandy is served by Nog, nephew of bartender Quark, in rocks glasses on the Defiant. He seems to know what he is doing. Traditional rocks glasses might not be tapered to keep in the aromas, yet they are not filled to the brim, so that the nose has something to enjoy.

On top of all of this, we see Captain Pike in Strange New Worlds enjoy a glass of Saurian Brandy in his quarters while talking to Spock. He actually keeps his Brandy in an elegant decanter, and enjoys it out of a tapered glass to enjoy said aromas.

So maybe the Saurian Brandy Guinan served to Picard was indeed a sub-par bottle and indeed hooch? Otherwise, I might just be imposing my Earthly biases about alcohol on to alien beverages and shot glasses might be the vessel of choice, for reasons I do not know.

Glowup at the Deltan diplomatic dinner

After the scenes focusing on Picard, we are taken to Raritan IV, in the Beta Quadrant. Here, our eyes may feast on the dinner table on a floating platform in what seems to be a swimming pool or some other body of decorative water surrounded by futuristic architecture and more alcohol. Soji and Dr Jurati are on a diplomatic tour representing synthetic lifeforms after the Federation ban on Synths had been lifted.

This table setting is like the glowing table tops of Ten Forward on the Enterprise D and in LA, but on Steroids. The whole glowing floor situation is also giving me 2001 and Tron Legacy vibes.

But really now, nearly everything, except the people, is either transparent or glowing. I love it. Just look at those extra glow globes placed lovingly on the dining table to add a little extra glow to the whole scene.

So what about those chairs? They look familiar.

Finding the exact chair without knowing a name, it feels ubiquitous to me in real life, was a bit of a challenge. Yet I found it. It’s the “Chrystal Chair” and is made by Siesta Exclusive, an Italian company specializing in injection-molding plastic furniture.

Honorable Mentions

I do hope this analysis was interesting and may have inspired some of you to introduce more Trek into your lifestyles. It’s like casual cosplay, just for living spaces.