Wines That Rock Blog
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ROCKS AGAINST CANCER
Wines That Rock is so proud to be supporting ROCKS AGAINST CANCER - a black-tie rock + roll fundraiser presented by the Farber Center for Radiation Oncology, benefiting EIF Cancer Programs.
Check out this super cool video!
A video for ROCKS AGAINST CANCER, a black-tie rock + roll fundraiser presented by the Farber Center for Radiation Oncology, benefiting EIF Cancer Programs.
Aug 31, 2010 at 10:01 AM
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Be the first to comment on this postDerek Trucks Band is Rockin it!
OK Wines that Rock Fans, check out this fun little story.
So, we heard it through the grape vine (sorry about that) that Derek Trucks of The Allman Brothers Band and The Derek Trucks Band - sighted up Wines That Rock and loved it...
As soon as we heard that, we shipped Derek and the Band out a little care package. Cheers Derek (and band)! We are big fans over here at the Wines That Rock headquarters. We’ve been grooving to the new Album Roadsongs all week.
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Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. They have the whole thing streaming for free on their site. |
If you’ve never heard any of their music, get on this! Derek has been called "the most awe-inspiring electric slide guitar player performing today"
Nuff Respect to Derek Trucks Band!
Cheers
The Wines That Rock Team
Wine Enthusiast talks about Wine and Music
Wine Enthusiast Magazine online just published a cool article on Music and Wine Collaborations. Wines That Rock is happy to be at the top of the list!
Here is an excerpt:
It’s an unwritten rule that a successful party requires alcohol and a great soundtrack. But who knew that so many musicians (specifically those in the rock n’roll category) have a hand in wine production? Here are ten wine and rock pairings that may surprise you:
1. Wines That Rock, the brain child of rock business managers RZO and Mendocino Wine Company, has three wines in release that were inspired by iconic classic rock recordings:
- Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon Cabernet Sauvignon
- The Rolling Stones’ Forty Licks Merlot
- and Woodstock Chardonnay
According to winemaker Mark Beaman, “With Wines That Rock our focus is to combine these two sensory based experiences into a meaningful sum that is greater than its parts. Think of it as a sort of audio aromatherapy.”
He article goes on to discuss severl other Music and Wine collaborations. Check out the full article here.
Thanks Wine Enthusiast Magazine!! Hail Hail Rock 'n Roll!
How to Throw a Rockin Wine Party
This is an easy formula.
1. Get your hands on some Wines That Rock
2. Throw some Rolling Stones, Woodstock & Pink Floyd on the Sound System
3. Pop the cork, Turn up the Music, and Enjoy the taste of Wines That Rock
This formula works!
Check out this note from a customer in Texas:
"I just threw a party last week and a Spec's wine specialist recommended The Wines That Rock as a cool party wine, but also he told me that these wines would exceed my expectations in quality as well. I was mildly skeptical, but I took him at his word and man HE WAS RIGHT! The Forty Licks Merlot and Woodstock Chardonnay were a Mega Hit! Thank You Spec's and Wines That Rock."
- Ron Keever, Woodlands TX
Thanks to Specs in Texas for recomending the wines and to Ron for sharing his experience. DO TRY THIS AT HOME!
Check out some more comments and mentions about Wines That Rock
In the Studio with Mark Beaman - Winemaker
Final decision- In the studio. To polish or not to polish?
The blend/band has been gathered together; everyone is getting along and working together. It is time to record the assemblage and bottle the sound for others to witness. In the mixing booth tons of equipment is available to smooth out imperfections. The level of how much studio manipulation to utilize is up to the band and managers and there is no lack of options on what can be done. For example, there is “auto-tune” which is a device that can adjust the singer’s pitch automatically just to name one. Some have gone so far that many albums have been created without a person playing a single instrument!
Mark Beaman at the Wines That Rock Launch Party, New York City
In that case the Grammy should be handed to the computer rather than the artist! When I can hear Lenny Kravitz fingers move over the strings while finding cord positions on “Fly Away” I like that organic sound. In the Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” vocalist Merry Clayton lets her voice rip and go over the edge on her final solo. If you listen closely in the background you can hear one of the band members yell out a “Yeah!” in encouragement.
The studio easily could have bleeped it but chose not to and I think the song is better for it. The confidence to leave something as it is and not tweak it is something that seems to be disappearing not just in music but also in many wines of today. Winemaking has plenty of tools to work with to adjust the wine if something seems out of place. While the technology can be a blessing it can also be over-used. Every time something is added to the wine then something is covered over. As access to these methods increase so to have technologically rendered soda-pop recipe wines in the market place.
Authenticity in wines is fading from sight of the consumer. There is a battle to preserve unique authentic wines and have them available for the wine drinker. Wines that have a soul, a story, retaining varietal attitude, acidity, age-ability, are something share with people you care about. It would be a terrible shame if that were lost or became no longer recognized as authentic. That is why I love Mendocino County and the fact this is where the Wines that Rock are coming from. Our county is still at a young and hungry point in the wine world despite having a long history in it. Our hunger for success is rooted in farming, a deep respect for the land and Mother Nature which follows through into the cellar in making authentic wines and not chasing the preferences of others.
We choose not to over do it in terms of manipulations or technologies available. With Wines that Rock we want to go further and actually bottle authentic wine representing a language formed via a synergy between wine and music. This is possible because of the approach of Mendocino grape-growers respectful methods of farming that result in intensely flavored grapes that are capable of sounding out loudly and in tune in the final wine. My job, which I love so much, is to assemble the best selection of “band-members” for the pleasure of the fans. We are having a blast, you should join us!
More about the wine and music connection!
Band Chemistry in Wine Making
Band chemistry- Talent and ego.
Are they all going to get along in there?
Blending two or more wines together with the goal of making a wine better than any of the individual lots is a long established practice. In Bordeaux red wines there are 5 different varieties allowed and in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape of the Rhone region there are 13! Why do this? Well in the case of some Rhone wines for example the Grenache variety may be wonderful in terms of it aromas and soft raspberry/strawberry flavors, but weak in body and length.
The Syrah may be dense, chewy and decadent in the finish, but lack aromatics and the fruit attack at the front palate. Put the two together in some ratio and the result is a wine with the best of both worlds. The % of each to add is where the challenge is. You rarely if ever get it right on the first try. Practice makes perfect and eventually enough scenarios are experienced that a winemaker has an idea of what to do. An example we see often is, if a wine is lacking in tannin, it may be best to add a small amount of the tannic wine (2-5%) to the base blend rather than shooting for the moon (25-50%). You can always try to add another 2 to 5% if the first trial has failed. Intuition can be your best friend or it can lead you in the wrong direction. Blend two good wines together and get a great wine right? Not always, because the complexity of the chemistry is an honest rush hour tangle of compounds it is not always going to end up where it should according to what is on paper.
That is why you have to smell and taste again and again to give a chance at arriving at the best destination. Blending is like band practice. The individual talents and egos of the band members need to meet up and jam together until they all understand their respective strengths. Once those roles are understood and respected teamwork emerges. This synergy can bolster the bands identity as each individual knows when to take center stage or shift to play a supporting role. Finding the right combination with the sometimes bull-headed personalities can be a strain. However, with patience, when the moment occurs when things click and sound right all around the room there is a confidence found and at this point the raw materials are together. Then it is near time to share this discovery with the world outside.
part two of three - More From Mark to Follow :)
Read more on the connections between wine and music
Pairing Wine and Music
From the Today Show
This segment from The Today Show is music to our ears! Restaurateur and winemaker Joe Bastianich talks about the unique relationship between wine and music...something Wines That Rock believes in to the very last drop. Nice job Joe, we couldn't have said it better ourselves.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Wine and Music
How could a wines attributes reflect a bands musical expression?
Sensing music other than by hearing it? Actually, if you look at studies on synthnesia or cognitive priming there clearly is proof that music has an effect on our other senses. Or anecdotally someone might reflect back on an experience in college where someone was convinced they could actually taste that Allman Brothers guitar solo…
Anyway, before I get off-track I would like to point out that enjoying the pairing of wine and music is something I happened across early in my wine career. It was a method of description that helped me turn something stressful to enjoyable. I had worked a new winery job for about a year and shown a good palate and ability to recognize flaws in wines. So eventually the winemaker invited me to participate in a blind competitive tasting. For those of you not familiar with this, a blind tasting is where a group of tasters will sample approximately 10 different wines that have a few things in common such as vintage and variety and even price point to compare against one another. The name of the wine however is concealed by enclosing the bottle in a paper bag which is lettered “A, B, C”, etc. The wines are passed around and then sniffed and tasted and ranked quietly by each person. Later the results are tallied and wines are given a score from best to worst. The worst wine is first described and then the bag is pulled off and the winery is revealed.
Usually the winery hosting the tasting has one of their wines in the mix in hopes theirs will show best. It is not uncommon that someone ranks their own wine last. So I made it into the big room with all the big shots and I was anxious to prove I deserved to be there. Everyone else had done this many times and this was my first shot at showing some skills and I wanted to be invited back again for the next time.
So a glass for each one for each person was set up, the wines were passed around, our blank score sheets handed out and we all got started at the 5 S’s;
- See,
- Swirl
- Sniff
- Sip
- and Spit.
After this everyone wrote down notes about the appearance, aroma, flavor and so on. The person next to me wrote out a sonnet on each of the wines. I was writing down little more than yum vs. yuck, raspberry vs. blackberry. Well at least I know what I liked and I felt fine to vote.
After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, someone mentions that each person will need to read their thoughts on a few of the wines to share with the group. Crap. I was okay scoring the wines, but now my Kindergarten level of wine description was going to be revealed. I was not going to fake some fancy terms or anything so I just had to think of language that described something else that was enjoyable, sensory based, and I was opinionated on. Cars? No, I do not know enough on that. Girls? That will get me in trouble. Music? Bingo! I described each wine as a song, musician, or a regionally based style of music. This got me back in to a descriptive state of qualitative thought and I was able to describe each wine distinctly.
When the tasting concluded and it was my time to talk about the wine, I felt comfortable describing the wine which was spicy, yet a bit subdued as an acoustic set by Carlos Santana. The room laughed and much of tension that was there before lifted. While my technique was not as descriptively useful as what some people would have preferred, it was an icebreaker for the room which was somber and straight faced up to that point. They did invite me back to more tastings and over the years I have added a slew of terms to my sensory library of reference, but the music catalog has expanded as well. It’s prett sweet to reflect back on that moment and be part of the Wines that Rock Project today.
Mark Beaman
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