John Shearlock on why rockers want to be winemakers

Published: 10 January, 2013

What is it that wine and music have in common? Is it that, as with music, we struggle to put into words what it is that we feel when we drink wine, knowing simply that there is something above and beyond us, an intangible and almost incomprehensible facet, but that we know we like? Or is it that the components of fine wine sing in harmony or play in concert like a well rehearsed Orchestra?

Erm, well I guess they're both possible, but what I was actually aiming at was once you have mastered music, it would appear you then turn to wine.

The list of musicians that now make wine, or are involved in wine is seemingly growing every day. They originate from bands that dance through the musical genres, from the treble clef mainstreamers such as Cliff Richard, Sting and Madonna, to the alternative rockers of Rush and Primus, ending finally on the bass clef, with black metal and thrash bands like Satyricon, Slayer and Mötorhead. So what's driving this phenomenon?

Ok, let's be pragmatic about this. Many of these musicians have made money and can now indulge their dreams and desires, and find themselves in an age where wine is more accessible, and wine production is better understood than ever before. Wine is also fashionable, and commercially viable, therefore the attraction to investors is obvious, and the requirements to start making wine much more attainable.

So it's all about money? Well, in some cases yes. Let's not forget that bands are massive international brands, with huge followings, thus representing markets that can easily be tapped into. Mötorhead Shiraz for example, comes in bottles emblazoned with the Mötorhead logo, happily accompanied on the especially created website, by a multitude of merchandise and products all heavily branded too.

Slayer's Reign in Blood Red wine (a Californian Cabernet Sauvignon named after the band's 1986 album) is currently only available in Sweden, but retails at a whopping $105. I love the idea that Slayer would make a truly exceptional and rather expensive wine, I, after all, bought that album back in 1986, but without wanting to sound too sceptical, this borders on exploitation of a fan base that would stop at nothing to follow their band.

There are other examples of muso-celebrity-wine-tie-ins, where marketing is the obvious goal. Both Carlos Santana and Bob Dylan have endorsed wine, allowing for use of name, image and even album cover art in Bob's case. This is canny stuff, targeting a specific demographic in a clever and catchy way, and is possibly the future of wine marketing and branding. Will we soon be seeing links on iTunes to wines available by the bands we are downloading - wineTunes if you like? Social media, file sharing and music streaming sites such as Grooveshark and Spotify are hugely popular, link this delivery of music to the purchase of wine, and immediately there is a large commercial opportunity.

But it's not all commerce and capitalism, there are many musicians involved in wine, as an extension of what was once a hobby and is now a passion. I spoke to Matt James, who was the drummer in Gene but now runs The Bordeaux Cellar, and who started working in wine when he said he"simply decided that a working life spent immersed in tasting and selling my other great love - fine wine - was a far more exciting prospect than a further 10 years spent in an increasing smaller tour bus". For him too, similarities between wine and music exist: "I've found both wine and music can give me extreme profundity of pleasure and they're both able to take me somewhere I'll never forget."

And it's with this thought that we're back in the realms of whimsical philosophy, the wine versus art vein in which we began. As Roger Scruton said in his book I Drink Therefore I am: "Wine results from the mind but never expresses it", and it is this that distinguishes it from art. However, I am surprised by the number of musicians that I loved in my youth, and that now make wine. Are the artistic, creative forces that led me to listen to their music and then develop a love of wine the same as theirs? We can of course never know the answer to this, however one thing is for sure. The connection that we feel for the bands we have followed for much of our lives is exactly what makes them a potentially powerful wine sales tool.

* You can read more from John Shearlock at The Drinking Well

Printer friendly version