The wine is Complicated, but Grammy winner Avril Lavigne’s new California Pinot Noir project is playing a familiar hit: Wine-Loving Rock Star Teams with Experienced Winemaker to Make Good Wine for Good Cause. And it’s a tune that never gets old down here in the ever-expanding Cellar of Celebrity Wines. (New Influencer wing now under construction!)
Finding a winemaker was also anything but complicated for Lavigne. Her personal “house wine” on tour is the appropriately named Banshee, an Alexander Valley–based Sonoma winery founded in 2009 and part of the Foley Family Wines portfolio since 2018.
The debut 2024 Banshee It’s Complicated Pinot Noir ($30, 145 cases made) includes 15 percent Syrah and sources grapes from Monterey, Solano and Sonoma counties. The wine was aged nine months in French oak barrels before blending and bottling in August.
Avril Lavigne’s It’s Complicated Pinot Noir is made by Sonoma’s Banshee Wines. (Skyler Barberio)
“The Banshee wines mantra is to craft the best California has to offer with a focus on Pinot Noir from the cool, rugged coastal areas of Sonoma County and beyond,” Banshee winemaker Jake Lachowitzer told Wine Spectator. “With the name and wine style inspired by Avril, Banshee Complicated Pinot Noir is a tri-county spin, which represents California in motion for me. It’s Sonoma County structure, Solano County spice, and Monterey County cool that makes this wine proof that Pinot Noir can be easy to drink and complicated at the same time.”
“Over the last two years on my Greatest Hits Tour, I was rocking out with the Banshee bar set up backstage every night, ready for the afterparty, so teaming up on our own wine just felt right,” said Lavigne. “I hope that everyone can crack open a bottle with their best friends, blast the music that started it all for me, and enjoy the moment.”
As part of the partnership with Lavigne, Banshee Wines will donate $10,000 to benefit songwriting camps for She Is the Music, an organization dedicated to creating more opportunities for women in the music industry. Lavigne’s Complicated Pinot Noir is available at BansheeWines.com.
Grammy winner Future created the Roué drinks brand to reflect his own multifaceted personality. (331des)
Grammy-Winning Rap Pioneer Future Introduces Roué Wines and Ready-to-Drink Cocktails
Atlanta-based hip-hop legend Future changed the game more than a decade ago when he introduced the world to auto-tuned rap music, innovating in a space where others seemed content to pop some Cristal and call it a day. But Future’s wine time has now come with the introduction of Roué wines and ready-to-drink cocktails.
Will Roué disrupt the beverage market as effectively as Future’s auto-tuned trap music disrupted the Billboard Hot 100? Only the future knows, but present-day Future fans and wine lovers can watch for two debut bottlings, Roué Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2023 and Roué Sauvignon Blanc Lake County 2024 ($30 each), both made from organic grapes.
And like the always fashion-forward Future, his Roué wines won’t be hard to spot. Each bottle of Roué disrupts any standard cellar racking system with a strikingly rotund many-faceted bottle with a long, gently sloping shoulder. (Depending on your age, it may or may not also inspire dreams of Jeannie.)
“I enjoy wine, but couldn’t find a brand that truly reflected me, something current, innovative and connected to the culture,” said Future. “So, I created it. Roué is about bringing diversity into the wine world and showing what’s possible when creativity and culture collide. Roué is for everyone who’s ever felt unseen in spaces like this. Roué is culture, creativity and authenticity in a bottle.”
And Roué isn’t just about the wine. Future also enters the fast-growing ready-to-drink cocktail space with two wine-based RTDs, Ruby Passion and Lemon Lust ($15/4 pack). Future’s entire Roué lineup is available at DrinkRoue.com.
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