[ PORTRAIT ]
Singer // Sweden
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Talk with Titiyo
"I love melancholy. Music with some depth, you can also find that in my wines."
Titiyo, whose real name is Titiyo Yambalu Felicia Jah, is Sweden’s rock and soul queen. Her breakthrough came in 1989 with “Talking to the Man in the Moon”. Well, what else would you expect with parents who are musicians and dance teachers?
During the 1990s, Titiyo established herself as one of the foremost Swedish soul singers, and was referred to as a Swedish version of Aretha Franklin – just so you know which voice we are talking about. And, of course, great vocal cords need to be kept hydrated...
Last year Titiyo made her own wine, in collaboration with a producer in Umbria. One red, one orange, and she is thrilled about the result, as are fellow wine lovers in Sweden.
We met for a chat at her second home, Ambar, a cozy wine bar downstairs in a quiet corner of Stockholm. Join the ride!
How did you become interested in wine?
TITIYO
– I have always drunk and enjoyed wine. I love to eat and cook, and wine is what enhances the experience. Beer has never been my thing. But it was when I ended up here at Ambar that I discovered artisanal wine and especially orange wine – it feels so good in your body. Its young, fresh flavours - a nice mix of top and bottom. And a new colour!
I love eating and cooking, and wine enhances the experience.
You discovered wine in a special place. Does the context mean anything to you?
TITIYO
– Absolutely. The culture around natural and artisanal wine has a nice, playful feeling and I love the design language – it's unpretentious and serious at the same time. It’s often small-scale production – people are proud of what they do.
Last year you made your own wine, a very limited production. How did that happen?
TITIYO
– It was actually Damon Young here at Ambar who put me in touch with Pernilla Nilheim, who imports wine from Italy. We started talking and I was keen to guide people to a good macerated white wine – I wanted to give them the same experience and journey that I've been through. What was interesting was that I recognised myself in the process, how wine is made. To produce a good wine, you don’t make any money, and it takes time. But you get respect. I recognise this from music. When record companies ask me when the record will be ready, I always say ’I don’t know, but when the record comes, it will be damn good’.
Do you see similarities in the creation of wine and music?
TITIYO
– Yes, I felt confident in the wine process. I recognised the feeling. Here in Sweden we have so-called celebrity wine, and it has become a dirty word. Famous people who produce mediocre wines. But my wine is not a “celebrity wine”, it's something that I want to drink myself and that is part of my universe. It's about quality, not quantity. We only made 650 bottles in total.
The process with wine is similar to how I work with albums.
Speaking of “celebrity wine”. You’ve been asked before about making wine with your own label?
TITIYO
– Just before the pandemic, I was approached by a major importer here in Sweden, but it fell through. But it was probably just as well... when friends heard that I was going to make a wine, the reaction was not so positive, more like 'are you one of those people who make celebrity wine?
So how did it happen, and why Umbria, a rather unknown part of Italy?
TITIYO
– We tried it out on the spot, and I felt that the guys behind Colbacco were right in line with what I want to do. Their idea is to revive abandoned vineyards around Perugia and make great wines that reflect their location and vintage. The orange is a Pinot Grigio and the red is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Sangiovese and a third of the orange wine. We tasted and I tried to understand what I liked and didn't like, and what I could stand for.
That's interesting. You must have learnt a lot about your own taste during this process. What did you come up with along the way?
TITIYO
– I am sensitive to bitterness in wine. But I appreciate the saltiness, that people talk about. You should remember that I have no training in wine... ha ha. I’ve tried my hand at it.
– When we tasted Colbacco’s wines, I remember writing down YES in capitals. I liked this one! Then when we tasted it again the next day, I wondered if it would taste as good. And it did.
Your wines have a real personality, you can tell there’s emotion behind them. How do you see yourself creating different art forms?
TITIYO
– As I said, the process with wine is similar to how I work with albums. It doesn’t have to be quick. It doesn’t have to be large-scale. I want my albums to be a craft. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but it should be a craft – no one should be able to say it’s fake. That’s it! And it’s the same with wine. Wine is what it is, you can’t take any shortcuts. I could never work with people who take shortcuts, no matter what it is. People notice if you do a ’sell-out’, it becomes a speculative feeling that is easily recognised.
– I’m good at pushing deadlines... ha, ha. It's ready when it's ready.
I can open a lovely bottle at home for myself, I can treat myself. And I think you should do that.
Let’s go back to what wine is made for. How do you think you should enjoy a wine?
TITIYO
– Wow, this sounds very simple, but I would say – without thinking about tomorrow. I can open a lovely bottle at home for myself, I can treat myself. And I think you should do that. In addition, the concentration is different then. You can sink into the wine, “this is my wine”, it becomes more intimate. Your emotions are more on edge.
If we go back to your music, and if we compare it to wine. How would you describe your style?
TITIYO
– I love melancholy. There should be a bottom, and beats. I like clashes, meetings between different styles. Maybe it’s because I am black and white myself, with black and white parents. My music is a crash – and the collision has become my common thread. Something with some depth and weight, no fast stuff. You can also find that in my wines. They have depth.
My music is a crash – and the collision has become my common thread. Something with some depth and weight, no fast stuff. You can also find that in my wines. They have depth.
Finally, a few words about your wine labels: A simple flower with fingerprints. I know it means something special to you.
TITIYO
– It’s the same logo from my second album in 1993, and it was not difficult to get the designer Björn Kusoffsky on board. He has designed the graphic profile for SAS, Ikea and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, but has no wine label on his CV. For me the context is important, this flower is ME. The flower is Titiyo. It is part of my universe.
Article - Lena Särnholm
A journalist since her teens, she started out as a news reporter and ended up at the equestrian magazine Ridsport, where she worked as an editor for more than 20 years. Then her interest in wine took over. Lena Särnholm studied as a sommelier at the Swedish Restaurant Academy and works as a freelancer in wine and equestrian sports. She writes mainly for the wine culture magazine Törst, Star Wine List and In Vino, and works part-time in a wine bar in Stockholm to keep up to date. She has also worked eight full harvests, mainly in Loire. She’s the Swedish ambassador for PIWI International.
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