When pondering adult beverages that have a rock ‘n’ roll edge, wine probably isn’t the first libation that comes to mind.
“When you think of rock ‘n’ roll, you think of Jack Daniels right out of the bottle,” says winemaker Mark Beaman, who is creating wines inspired by some of the world’s greatest bands for the Wines That Rock collection. “But if you look at the way people are entertaining and having a good time, they are appreciating wine.”
A partnership between rock business managers RZO and California wine maker Mendocino Wine Co., Wines That Rock is creating bottles and blends like Rolling Stones “Forty Licks” Merlot, Woodstock Chardonnay, Pink Floyd “The Dark Side of the Moon” Cabernet Sauvignon and the just-launched The Police “Synchronicity.”
“It’s the music that drives it,” says Beaman on how he crafts the wine. “But it’s also the title. ‘Synchronicity’ is when all seemingly unrelated events come together in a meaningful manner. So we used several different varieties that you don’t often see together, like Carignane, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Grenache and Viognier.”
Luckily, Beaman will be hard-pressed to run out of muses.
“So far we haven’t gone for the quintessential American band — Bruce Springsteen would be amazing and we would do a real American variety [of grapes] for that one.”
