Winefest Features 'Wines That Rock'
A t Mohegan Sun's Winefest weekend, Stonington native, Ron Roy, featured wine from a company he co-founded called Wines That Rock.
Roy, a 1976 graduate of Stonington High School, combined his experience in the music industry and a new interest in wine to launch the brand 15 months ago.
The wines, which feature album covers on their labels, include the Rolling Stones Forty Licks Merlot, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon Cabernet Sauvignon and The Police's Synchronicity and are meant to evoke the mood of the music.
Roy can remember his childhood bedroom plastered with posters of Bowie, T.Rex and Slade and littered with albums of the English movement and glam rock.
"I was so into discovering new music," he said. "My dream was trying to figure out how to get into the industry."
He eventually founded an online fan club called UltraStar, whose clients included Bowie, The Stones, The Police and The Who. Members could buy tickets to concerts early and have other VIP opportunities.
"We were social networking before it was social networking," Roy said.
It was the relationships he formed with those bands that helped start Wines That Rock. As Roy was looking for his next fun project, he started drinking wine, and had the overwhelming experience of walking into a wine shop, intimidated by hundreds of labels.
Yes, rock 'n' roll is rowdy and loud, more closely allied with beer and liquor, but that's where Roy saw an opportunity.
"We really wanted to do something different," Roy said.
Most people think about wine and food, but wine goes hand-in-hand with music, too.
"If you're at a restaurant or party, or have people over for dinner, music is always prevalent with wine," he said.
From baby boomers to kids just discovering classic rock, the music stirs up memories of a Stones concert in '92 or where you were the first time you heard "Dark Side of the Moon," he said.
"There's an excitement around music, and we're just kind of plugging into that," Roy said.
The "everyday" wine is made in Mendocino, Calif., and typically costs $12 to $15 a bottle. The company focuses on social media, using sustainable materials and a portion of the profits goes to the T.J. Martell Foundation, which raises funds for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research.
Though the company is based in New York City, Roy now lives in St. Louis and is an adjunct professor in Entrepreneurial Studies at St. Louis University.
k.warchut@theday.com
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