Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you finally landed those Motley Crüe tickets, the ones that had you checking Ticketmaster every day for a month. You and your two best Crüe-heads have dished out a small fortune for the hardest rocking night in music, and just three hours and a quick ride in the back of a pickup sit between you and Dr. Feelgood. Your carefully selected crüe arrive at your house as planned, and the three of you exchange feverish glances as they walk through the door. You ask them to follow you to the kitchen because you have prepared something special to celebrate. Rocky is drooling on his mesh tanktop and the American Flag on Cherryl's t-shirt has flames on it. "You two are going to love this." Rocky grunts. You pass by the refrigerator and, opening a glass door, you present your friends with two pristine bottles of 2005 Clos Des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. "The 2008 Wine of the Year," you exclaim, but Cherryl sneers. "I'm partial to the Le Vieux Donjon," she says, and the three of you laugh knowingly.

Now, don't laugh. If the wine lovers at Rock n' Roll wine have their way, wine won't sound quite so ridiculous in my little narrative. Rock and Roll Wine is a company that hosts events around the country where they combine amplified music with a wine tasting. Their "high energy events" seek to "revolutionize the way people approach, perceive, and enjoy wine." Wolverine Cuizine attended one of those very events at Goodnight Gracie here in Ann Arbor, so read on for our thoughts on this "revolution."

At Goodnight Gracie's "Amplified Wine" tasting, the banner of Rock and Roll was carried by Brandon Calhoon. His greatest publicity came two years ago when he finished fifth on the reality show Rockstar INXS where he had been seeking the spot of lead singer for that group of 80's hitmakers. Brandon is now playing small shows with an acoustic guitar and a talented harmonica-playing sidekick—reality show contestants have fallen much further from success. At Goodnight Gracie, Brandon and his very small band busted out a soulful version of the Americana rock that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perfected a few decades ago. He mixed original songs with covers of classics by Stevie Ray Vaughn and The Allman Bros. He did make a few sarcastic comments about the wine tasting between songs, but the small crowd of twenty-somethings was paying far more attention to wine and conversation than to music, so I thought his attitude was justified.

Wine was represented on the opposite side of the room by ten selections from California, Spain, Australia, and Germany. Reds and whites were both represented, but the wine selection had no tangible theme. A pair of wines that could only have been named by a marketing intern (Reggae Rhapsody and The Grotto) were carefully advertised. They are also available on the Rock and Roll Wine website. In retrospect it seems obvious, but the real advantage of taking the elitism out of wine is that it can be marketed to a much wider audience. "Come on, come on, listen to the money talk." 

Sitting between the tasting and the music, I felt like I was in two places at once. I don't think wine and rock music are inherently incompatible, but an event like this can be no more successful than a beer tasting accompanied by loud music. Smart conversation about smells and flavors just can't be had over an amplified acoustic guitar and a wheezy harmonica. Wine and amplified music are great together, but a successful wine tasting this was not. I imagine that these Amplified Wine events are great in larger venues where one can thoughtfully drink in one room and rock out in another. If you make it to one, we'd love to hear about it.