Eurythmics star Dave Stewart plans to follow the launch of his own wine with more releases and a concert at the Australian winery where it's made, Mollydooker Winery, Decanter.com can reveal.
Dave Stewart, a self-confessed ‘massive wine fanatic’, told Decanter.com it was his idea to produce a wine with award-winning Mollydooker and name it after his forthcoming album, The Ringmaster General. The 2010 McLaren Vale Shiraz will sell for US$125 per bottle.
Stewart is keen to follow the launch by playing an annual concert at Mollydooker, possibly from February 2013. ‘It would only be 2,000 to 3,000 people, so very very small,’ he said. He also intends to bring out another wine.
Stewart chanced upon Mollydooker’s wines while on holiday with his wife at The Landing hotel in the Bahamas. ‘The guy who runs it is obsessed with wine and he pulled out this wine called Carnival of Love. It was the best Shiraz I’ve ever tasted,’ he said, speaking from New York ahead of the opening of Ghost the Musical on Broadway, for which he collaborated on lyrics and music.
‘Later that year, I went on tour in Australia and made sure the route went near Mollydooker. I was hoping to get a case, and I asked them to meet me. We talked for a bit, and then I said: “I’d like to make a wine with you”.’
Stewart invited Mollydooker winemakers Sarah and Sparky Marquis to his Hollywood production base, Weapons of Mass Entertainment.
‘We tasted every wine they had. Everyone in my office got smashed. But we went through the wines really in-depth, and also how they pulled it all together in the winery. I just became really friendly with them, it was a meeting of two crazy minds.’
He is unapologetic about the US$125 price tag for The Ringmaster General. ‘I didn’t want to bring out some cheap plonk,’ he said. ‘A lot of people pay that amount for wine that’s not anywhere near as good.’
Would Stewart consider following the likes of Cliff Richard, Madonna and Dave Matthews, of the Dave Matthews Band, into the vineyard? ‘That’s a route I can see, actually. I think my wife sees it more clearly than I do. She’s French and she loves wine,’ he said.
The Ringmaster General is expected to be released in May and buyers will get a free double-DVD of both the making of the wine and a behind-the-scenes look at Stewart’s recent solo work, including the new album due out in September.
Written by Chris Mercer
