Unfiltered

The Flava of wine, a Mötley Cruise with rocker Vince Neil, NASCAR wine and someone finally comes up with good uses for plastic corks

Posted: October 4, 2006

• Flavor Flav: Rap star, reality TV star, winemaker? Sort of. Viewers of last night's episode of Flavor of Love, a dating reality show on VH1 starring Flavor Flav of the '80s rap group Public Enemy, saw him take contestants "New York" and "Bootz" to the Wilson Creek Winery & Vineyards in Temecula, Calif. (He left his platinum grill and Viking horns at home, but did wear his trademark oversize clock and comic sunglasses.) The threesome rode horses through the vineyards--New York and Bootz wore heels and short skirts, somehow--before tasting some Wilson Creek wines. Then Flav wanted to stomp some grapes. "Would y'all get messy with me? I want to get messy," he said. The women promptly stripped down to bikinis to stomp grapes together. "We just bought some Thompson seedless grapes, because it was springtime," said Bill Wilson, general manager of Wilson Creek. However, "He knew his wine a little bit," Wilson said of Flav. Slipping around in the grapes made Flav happy, and all three sticky, so they showered in the vineyard to both clean up and cool down, which Flav told the camera was necessary because, "I would have burnt up the grape fields and those people wouldn't have had no more grapes to make wine!" Must be love.

Vince Neil's now the one wine drinkers call Dr. Feelgood.

• It seems like just yesterday that Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil, now 45, resurfaced on VH1's The Surreal Life, and later announced he was releasing two wines, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sonoma Chardonnay, both called Vince Vineyards. Now Unfiltered has learned that he will launch his third wine next spring, a Pinot Grigio produced by Delicato winery, bsaed in Manteca, Calif. He's also penned a new distribution deal with AV Imports, according to Russ Dale, one of Neil's partners, and he's scouting sites for a new winery in Napa Valley or Sonoma. "We're going to have motorcycles in our tasting room, all of Vince's albums on the wall--very rock 'n' roll," said Dale. In case anyone in California wine country wants a taste of what's headed their way, in January, Neil will host a wine dinner and Vince Vineyards tasting, bikini contest, concert and poker tournament for 1,300 fans aboard a four-day Carnival cruise to Nassau. It's not entirely like the Crüe days of yore, however: Proceeds from the Mötley Cruise will benefit AIDS and cancer research through Neil's Skylar Memorial Fund.

Warning: Do not try to crush these bottles against your head.

• First race-car team owner Richard Childress founded Childress Vineyards in North Carolina. Then driver Jeff Gordon launched his own wine label, the Jeff Gordon Collection with August Briggs winery in Napa Valley, and even Ravenswood sponsored a team. But now NASCAR has a wine all its own. RaceWines, California Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon featuring race event or team logos, hit International Speedway Corporation venues this summer. (The etched or hand-painted bottles costs $49, but those on a beer budget can buy $19 versions, with logos printed on a paper label.) However, some fans think the swankier addition to souvenir row is out of place. "I wouldn't go so far as to call it a sore thumb, but the RaceWines booth definitely doesn't mesh with the Marlboro and Bud Light surroundings of Fan Fest," blogged Kent Jennings Brockwell on Richmond.com. "Basically, it looks too nice and artsy for what most would consider NASCAR-chic." But according to Ann Adams, marketing director of Maverick, LLC, which owns the RaceWines brand, the wines have drawn "a lot of lookers," particularly women and business owners. We had no idea either type of person was a NASCAR fan, but if they are, we're glad to hear they're not solely swilling beer.

On your way to the GPS point, use the ruler cork to explain measurements to a wild bear.

• Dragging a bottle or two of wine along on your outdoor adventure is not the greatest of ideas. It weighs down your pack, for one, and you feel especially silly if you forget to bring a corkscrew. But outdoorsman Cal Dennison, winemaker for Gallo brand Redwood Creek, realized that wine can help you enjoy the outdoor experience before you actually embark upon it. "We were thinking, 'What can we do with the closure that is interesting and gives it an extended purpose?'" he said. Well, now Redwood Creek's plastic corks feature any one of several outdoors tips, such as using the cork as a fish bobber. Or stick your fishhooks in it to prevent accidents. Or twist in an eyelet screw and attach your keys so they won't sink if they accidentally fall into water. But several of the corks also feature GPS coordinates for great views, such as the best vantage point for watching Old Faithful erupt. Dennison's favorite? "Without a doubt, the Grand Canyon," he said.

A tattoo of this label might say the wrong thing about you.

• Forget mnemonic devices and flash cards. Paso Robles' Four Vines winery has come up with a new way for wine shoppers to remember exactly which label they had in mind: temporary tattoos. Winemaker Christian Tietje had his artful labels for his "Hedonist" line of wines, including Biker Zinfandel and Heretic Petite Syrah, fashioned into noncommittal body art so people can continue celebrating the winery's self-proclaimed "irreverent attitude" long after the bottle's last drop (or for at least two or three days, with regular scrubbing). Or use the labels as a shopping reminder--whatever works best for you. The tattoos are available by mail order and at the winery, so would-be ink-toting Easy Riders should stow their station wagons in the garage and fire up the ol' chopper. And don't worry, your boss will never know--the tattoos will wash off by Monday.