Celebrity winemakers

Since first spilling into the mainstream music scene in the early 2000s, pop-punk band All Time Low has shared a set list with a variety of artists and dabbled in a diversity of musical styles that includes emotive melodies, alternative rock and high-energy anthems. After a hiatus following its 2017 record, the band returned two years later with another album, a hit song called “Everything is Fine,” and a whole new collaboration: Everything is Wine, a range made with Wines That Rock and E2 Winery. The debut wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon, sold out within an hour. A second selection, released a few months later, proved just as popular. This April, the foursome returned to its original loud, fast and pop-laced sound with an eighth studio album, Wake Up, Sunshine, and, by June, saw fit to pair it with an equally spunky rosé. Here, front man Alex Gaskarth shares the story at the bottom of the bottle. How and why did you guys decide to jump into the wine industry? We started [by creating] wines that felt introductory and world-building, a California Cab and a Sauvignon Blanc, to ease people into the notion that this was a journey we’re going on, and hoping to share with our fanbase and hopefully, the world at large. Summer Daze is our third installment, but we’re still fairly new to this whole thing and just learning the ropes. We entered the business because, frankly, we’re passionate about wine. Traveling the world has exposed us to a lot of different varieties and connected us with the places we were playing much more intimately. Prior to releasing your own wines, were any of you big wine drinkers or collectors? We’ve all been fairly interested in wine for some time, primarily Jack [Barakat, the lead guitarist] and myself. For me, it’s how every wine connects to a region and speaks to the people and places producing it. There’s something inherently magical about that. Like music, it cements you to a place and time. Drinking a glass of wine I once had when we first performed in Léon, [France,] for example, takes me right back to that moment. I have a fairly modest collection, but it’s all wine that I’ve come across while traveling, and each bottle is tied to a great memory. Rock musicians often seem to get associated with beer and spirits. Would you say there’s also a wine culture in the world of rock? Absolutely. I think it’s just a harder industry to break into, and oftentimes the consumer base just isn’t there, which is why we started small and tested the waters to find exactly what would work best. "Every wine connects to a region and speaks to the people and places producing it... Like music, it cements you to a place and time." Can you tell me a bit about your rosé and why it’s called Summer Daze? Summer Daze is a Zinfandel-based rosé, and the grapes were grown in Lodi, California. [The name] comes from a song on our new album, Wake Up, Sunshine. It felt appropriate, considering this tastes like getting lost in an endless summer. How involved are you guys get in making each wine? We usually blind-test a few different batches until we find something that we feel will resonate. That’s been the process so far, and it’s been a great way to deliver something that we love to our customers without stepping on the toes of the people who are actually experts at making wine. What has been the best thing about having your own range of wines? The most challenging part? The best part is being involved in something new that gives us another channel to connect with other people. The most challenging part is being taken seriously as a label and a name in the industry. We are outsiders trying to break in, and I hope we can continue to create a product that people welcome with open arms… We intend to take this as far as possible.