“Life is too short to drink bad wine.” ― Anonymous
OK this was a gratuitous photo to get your attention, but not entirely out of context. Now that we are through reviewing many of the wines mentioned in Adventures on the Wine Route by Kermit Lynch, we’re going to keep moving forward by reviewing some “celebrity” wines that have come to our attention lately. This post will cover wines created by one of my favorite bands, The Chicks.
I first discovered this wonderful band in 1992 when they appeared at, of all places, the Euless (Texas) Arbor Day Festival. I also saw them on local TV in the Dallas-Fort Worth area occasionally (including a Sunday night sports show!). During those early days, they were…. really Texas cowgirl-like. In fact, their second album was called Little Ol’ Cowgirl (their first was called Thank Heavens for Dale Evans). You get my drift.
But after a few years, the band changed its incarnation from cowgirl/bluegrassy to more traditional country and country-rock. Its two founding members, Martie McGuire and Emily Strayer, decided to move in a new direction (they only had moderate success in their previous identity) and replaced the two other musicians in the band with a new singer – Natalie Maines – in 1995. After that, their career took off like a rocket with two wildly popular albums – Wide Open Spaces in 1998 and Fly in 1999 (which featured the hit “Ready to Run” from the movie Runaway Bride). According to Wikipedia, in 1998 the group “sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined.”
Now some of you may know them by an earlier name, The D**** Chicks. But, as explained by americansongwriter.com, the group changed their name to The Chicks in the summer of 2020 “in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.”
The move, like others that came from the band, originated from the country trio’s conscience…. The trio, already known for its socially-conscious positions like criticizing President George Bush in 2003 regarding the Iraq War and the invasion of the Middle East, received criticism for its band name. Some 17-plus years later when another monumental change in American culture began, The Chicks were there again. Complete with a headline-grabbing name change.
Regarding the criticism of President Bush, the group was banned from many country stations for saying that they were “ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.” They responded with even more forceful music and activism – participating in a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina, joining a Vote for Change Tour – and came out with another powerful album in 2006, Taking the Long Way (produced by the incomparable Rick Rubin), which included the song “Not Ready to Make Nice” to rebut their critics after their comments on President Bush. The album and song swept the Grammies, winning Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. As The New York Times put it, “The Chicks Are Done Caring What People Think.”
This brings us to their most recent album, Gaslighter, released in 2020 (the first under their new name, and their first in 14 years), which included the powerful “March March” in response to the George Floyd murder and protests. The album’s title was a response to the difficult political environment of 2020, as Forbes tells us: “To gaslight someone means to manipulate another person into doubting their own perceptions, experiences or understanding of events, according to the American Psychological Association.”
So….. it was only appropriate that when they moved into the winemaking business around this time, the wine would be called Gaslighter. From the Pacific Highway Wines website:
Gaslighter Wine Co. is a collaborative premium wine project led by the biggest-selling U.S. female band of all time, The Chicks, in partnership with Sonoma’s 6th generation Bundschu Wine Company Together, they created a collection of premium wines with unapologetic expression and individuality from California’s Sonoma County and Napa Valley. Gaslighter wines are sourced from the Bundschu family’s estate vineyards and selected grower partners, and the wines are produced and bottled at Bundschu’s winery in Sonoma Valley under the care of winemaker, Joe Uhr. The Chicks are involved in every aspect of the project, from the naming, messaging, and eye-catching label design to the ongoing winemaking decisions and final blends.
A bit of history about the Bundschu Winery, which produces Gaslighter. According to the winery’s website, the Bundschu family has farmed the Rhinefarm estate vineyard “at the crossroads of the Sonoma Valley, Carneros, and Napa Valley appellations.” The winery, in its sixth generation of winemaking, focuses on making “small lots of ultra-premium wines” and has been in business more than 160 years. Quite the pedigree.
So far, Gaslighter has produced four wines: a Pinot Noir, a Pinot Noir rosé, a Sauvignon Blanc, and a Cabernet. I tried two: the Cab and the Sauvignon Blanc, and both were excellent. And yes, the bottles (with their engraved labels) are about the most beautiful I’ve seen in a long time.
First, the Cabernet. Mine was a 2019, which the winery’s website describes as being “From a single vineyard at the peak of Howell Mountain, with 20 months on 60% French oak, this unapologetically sensuous cab is for anyone who’s ever held their own in the face of chaos.” Loved the description, and I loved the wine even more. It was rich and sensuous, a hearty cab that was a gorgeous dark burgundy color with hints of dark cherries. It’s a little pricey at $145, but if you want to try something a considerable cut above your everyday wines, I’d heartily recommend this one.
The Sauvignon Blanc (from 2021) was even more impressive – and a bargain. I love a lot of California Sauvignon Blancs (I go back and forth between US/West Coast and New Zealand, as I like to note the contrasts). Wine Spectator noted that it was “mouthwatering and pure, with Key lime, lemon verbena and ruby grapefruit flavors on a sleek, light frame, showing a touch of dried pineapple. This is lovely for the precision, power and delicacy.” Highly recommended! And more affordable at $25.
From what I can tell, Gaslighter isn’t widely available at liquor stores just yet, though the rosé is available at some Total stores and the Sauvignon Blanc is available at wine.com. Check the Gaslighter website for availability and pricing.
Book recommendation: Oz Clarke is a famous British wine critic who has written countless books and wine reviews, all very entertaining in his inimitable way. His website (ozclarke.com) is called “Let Me Tell You About Wine” and is full of great writing about wines. I recently read his book The History of Wine in 100 Bottles: From Bacchus to Bordeaux and Beyond and really enjoyed it. As his website says, “This fascinating and entertaining book takes a look at 100 bottles that mark a significant change in the evolution of wine and winemaking and captures the innovations and discoveries that have had the biggest impact on the history of ‘bottled poetry.’” I learned a great deal about the history of wine and winemaking.
Wine-focused TV/movie recommendation: I’m going to start including my recommendations on wine-related TV shows or movies for your enjoyment. My recommendation this time is one of the best wine-focused shows I’ve seen in a long time, “Drops of God” on Apple TV+. Without giving too much away, it’s about a family wine fortune (and cellar) and a competition about who will inherit it. It is absolutely wonderful and riveting – check it out.
Wine Playlist: As mentioned in earlier posts, I like to create fun and funky playlists based on some of my interests, so I’ve created a wine playlist – songs with titles or lyrics that include wine. You can find it on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5rAwgh9Thiary4zUplUsaN
I wish I could say that The Chicks had an entry on this one, but alas…. Instead, let’s hear a favorite from Billy Joel – “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” from his impeccable album The Stranger.
“A bottle of white, a bottle of red
Perhaps a bottle of rose instead
We’ll get a table near the street
In our old familiar place
You and I, face to face
“A bottle of red, a bottle of white
It all depends upon your appetite
I’ll meet you any time you want
In our Italian Restaurant.”
Enjoy!
Postscript: There was a wonderful article by Alex Halberstadt in The New York Times Magazine recently about Maggie Harrison’s unorthodox Antica Terra winery in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. She has a special sensory ability to taste and blend wines (coincidentally, that talent is similar to one of the main characters in “Drops of God”). It is almost as if she treats wine as art.
Harrison has grapheme-color synesthesia, a form in which numerals and letters become associated with colors, and this turns out to be especially useful in her work. As she tastes her way around the bottled samples, her brain turns every number into a distinct, vibrant color, until the wines in front of her become a palette of umbers, oranges and Prussian blues that she combines into a final composition that aspires to what she describes as “emotional transparency” and a “perfect tension between intensity and levity.” Her synesthesia allows her to hold this overwhelming amount of sensory data in her mind as a palette of color, “keeping it in the sensory realm,” she told me, “without having to translate it into language.”
The Cellar Door 