Rolling Stones wine brand not made for X-Pensive Winos

By Phyllis Pollack

Although Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards had a band in the early nineties called The X-Pensive Winos, and he once told a music journalist, "If you're gonna get wasted, get wasted elegantly," the Rolling Stones new brand of Merlot comes cheap.

The Rolling Stones Forty Licks Merlot was introduced backstage to VIPs last week at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert in New York at Madison Square Garden.

Mark Beauman, a winemaker at Mendocino Wine Company, noted about the branding, "For Forty Licks Merlot, I wanted to work with a wine that captured what the album was about. Forty Licks, it's forty tracks covering the Rolling Stones from the 1960's to just a few years ago is really a statement about timeless, classic rock."

In the Rolling Stones song "Sweet Virginia" from the band's 1972 masterpiece album, Exile On Main Street, Mick Jagger sang, "Thank you for your wine, California." At $16.99 a bottle, the label includes the artwork to the band's 2002 Forty Licks album. The minimum order is $50.99 for a three pack.

The Rolling Stones previously had limited edition promotional bottles of wine, in green bottles, emblazoned with their painted-on tongue logo.

In the 2008 release of their Martin Scorsese-directed feature film Shine A Light, when the Rolling Stones performed their song "Loving Cup" with guest artist Jack White, when singing the lyrics, "Give me little drink from your loving cup...Just one drink and I'll fall down drunk," there was no hint that the Rolling Stones would be branding alcohol.

Whether the band's brand of Merlot will be successful remains to yet be seen, but the band's music still makes a beautiful buzz.

Forty Licks wine and other Rolling Stones merchandising is available through the band's website.

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