Taste and Talk: Tunes with Vindie Wine

A Delightful Duo

Courtesy of Vindie Wine

What happens when you cross two innovators who share a love for both wine and music? You get Vindie Wine, of course. Vindie Wine is a new wine brand that carefully curates wine and music selections, so that there is a unique tasting and listening experience with every bottle. Vindie Wine is the offspring of Rand Rognlien and Jeff Bundschu, who have a passion for good grapes and good sounds. Rand has enjoyed music for many years, which is why he is also the Founder of an instrument care company and has created an online music touring and management support company. Jeff has many years under his belt with the Sonoma wine industry, has produced over 25 vintages of wine and also spearheads many music festivals and concerts in wine country. Along with their winemaker, Alison Crowe, they deliver tasty wines and music in a unique, innovative, dualistic fashion.

Vindie’s wine comes from California coastal vineyards from Mendocino to Santa Barbara. Regarding their music selections, “specific songs have been hand selected to enhance that wine. Each bottle comes with a different playlist, and there is new music to discover with every bottle. The hope is that our customers discover new artists they love through each bottle of Vindie wine they purchase.” The back of each wine bottle has its own unique code for listening pleasure. In fact, the pairings were tested via wine and music tasting focus groups. Vindie Wine uses a “proprietary pairing process and patent pending technology on each bottle of wine. Truly innovative.

The music Vindie uses is from emerging artists, those “who may be unknown to casual music listeners,” so their goal is to help facilitate exposure to these artists. If you think this is noble, it is, but they take it a step further. Vindie also donates 1% of their sales to Sweet Relief. Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Co-Founder, Rand, feels that “as a lifelong player and music fan, giving back to the music community and those that need it most, is a high priority in every company I am involved in.” Vindie is definitely using their love of wine and music to build a wonderful brand, but also help others. Are you a wine lover and/or music lover? Have you tried Vindie Wine?

The Wining Hour’s Vindie Wine Tasting:

We were gracious to receive two wines to taste from Vindie: a Chardonnay and a Red Blend.

Additionally, we were delighted to have Vindie Wine as our featured guest on #WiningHourChat (@wininghourchat) for our music and wine conversation. Li, Cara and Maggie, as well as those online were able to learn more about Vindie, their concept and the inspiration behind their idea. How fitting for our wine and music chat!

2014 Vindie Wine Chardonnay

Vindie’s Chardonnay was 100% Chardonnay, primarily from the Russian River Valley, aged in 20% new French oak and 60% malolactic fermentation. It was light, fresh and crisp with white peach, apple and other summer fruits. We also noticed some chestnut flavors.

2014 Vindie Wine Red Blend

Vindie’s Red Blend was a blend of Malbec, Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Petite Sirah, all from California’s coastal wine regions. The Red Blend was aged in proprietary oak: 40% new, for 12 months, 60% French and 40% American. Vindie’s Red Blend smelled of berries and spice, and had dark berry fruits, such as blackberries and cherry on the palate. It was medium-bodied and could be enjoyed with the music…but also a juicy burger!

Although Vindie pairs 8 songs with each bottle, our favorite was “Young & Able” by Current Swell because of the reggae vibe to it. The vibes along with the Chardonnay felt like spring!

Cara (@CaraMiaSG) enjoyed both wines and thought they were very tasty. “I am partial to red wine, but the Chardonnay was “very good, refreshing and fruity. I especially enjoyed the pairing concept with the music. It was a really cool wine tasting experience.”

Maggie (@Winegal56) observed the “peach color of golden wheat” and tasted “hints of vanilla, pear, and apple.” She states, “I just love the concept of helping artists” and appreciates the fact that “each bottle unlocks music supporting emerging artists.”

With the Red Blend wine, we enjoyed the pairing of Jagwar Ma-Come Save Me, which was a groovy dance tune. We also liked Shakey Grave’s “And the War is Not for You.” Cara was happy to learn that one of the songs, “Gold,” by Chet Faker, was actually already on one of her personal playlists. She mentions, “I discovered some new songs & artists to add to my personal music playlists!” Meanwhile, Maggie described the Red Blend as pleasant to drink and her favorite song was “Wherever is your heart” by Brandi Carlile. Clearly, Vindie Wine has good taste.

It seems as if each of us enjoyed the Chardonnay, just a little bit more than the Red Blend, which is ironic, because two of us are not typically white wine drinkers. Interesting. Although we all have different tastes and preferences, we were pleased overall with our experience.

It was great to converse with Vindie and experience their curated wine and music pairings. Make sure you check out Vindie Wine and follow them @VindieWine.

About The Wining Hour

The Wining Hour writes about wine, Italy and global travel. The Wining Hour boutique caters to wine-lovers across the globe by offering all wine-related items. The Wining Hour markets unique wine décor and furnishings, accessories, glassware, barware, wine racks, storage and cooling options, games, gifts and more. The Wining Hour also hosts #wininghourchat on Twitter (@wininghourchat) on Tuesday’s at 9 p.m. EST.(For more, see links at the top of this page)

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