Blowin' in the Wine: Bob Dylan Teams Up With Italian Winemaker

"Vintage Bob Dylan" has taken on a new meaning. A term that once referred to dusty LPs and rollicking harmonica riffs now can be applied to fine wine, as the legendary folksinger has teamed up with Italian winemaker Antonio Terni to produce a blended red wine.

Terni, who owns Fattoria Le Terrazze in Italy's Marche region, is also a partner in Argentina winery Altos de Medrano, whose 2001 Malbec Viña Hormigas Reserva (91 points, $24) was among Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2003. A lifelong Dylan fanatic, he spends his free time trailing the singer's European tours and has already produced one wine in homage to his hero, a Montepulciano named Visions of J, after "Visions of Johanna," a song on Dylan's 1966 Blonde on Blonde album.

When the troubadour performed in Milan last year, Terni brought along a few bottles of Visions of J and passed them on to Dylan's drummer with a note asking if Dylan would be interested in a joint venture. When his manager called a few days later, Terni thought it was a prank.

"Bob tried it backstage and liked it, and his manager wanted to know more about my wine," Terni said. The two agreed to a trial joint venture: Terni would create the wine and Dylan would offer his endorsement, in exchange for a few hundred bottles.

While some producers use famous faces to push mediocre wines, Terni said he refuses to compromise quality for celebrity. "When [Dylan's management] asked me to make this wine, I told them, 'If you're looking to make some kind of merchandising thing, I cannot help you. I don't know how to make a cheap wine.'"

The result is Planet Waves 2002, a blend of 75 percent Montepulciano and 25 percent Merlot, that is named for Dylan's 1974 album. Terni says the blend expresses two sides of Dylan's personality. "It's severe and unpredictable like Montepulciano, and soft and friendly like Merlot," he said.

Even the inscription on the back of the bottle, which bears the signatures of both partners, contains a Dylanesque soliloquoy: "Countless waves of causes and effects/ have been rolling all along this planet/ since it emerged from darkness. When they cross and overlap each other, things happen./ …What pushed two guys from opposite corners of the world to put their names/ on a bottle of Italian red wine?/ Destiny? Fate? Coincidence?"

Terni has produced about 415 cases of Planet Waves, 125 of which will be exported to the United States in October. With a price tag of $65 per bottle, Dylan's famous lyrics from "All Along the Watchtower" could prove prophetic: "Businessmen, they drink my wine … None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

If all goes well, the winemaker and the musicmaker will continue their joint venture. "I've been a Bob Dylan fan since the first time I heard him, and I didn't even understand English then," Terni said. "I never imagined we'd make a wine together."