QUEENSRCHE Frontman Talks Wine In New Interview

Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with vocalist Geoff Tate of Seattle progressive rockers QUEENSRCHE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: I know you're a wine lover and I've read about your Insania wine. You're actually going to take part in the Insania barrel tasting event in December. Can you tell us more about Insania wines?

Geoff Tate: I started making wine about five years ago. It's something of a fascination for me, I've been fascinated with it for years now. I first was introduced to wine through travelling and trying wine all over the world. I really fell in love with how different wines are, and with the different tastes of wine from all regions of the world. And I just happen to live in a premier wine-making area of the United States, in the state of Washington, which is in the Northwest part of the United States. We grow really good grapes here, we have just about any kind of grape that is. We have a wine industry that's growing up around that. We're actually the second largest wine producer in the country, behind California. We have a fairly new line of industry, of course it's very young compared to other parts of the world. But we're doing well, and the Insania brand is selling very well. We're very happy with it.

Radio Metal: I know that many American wine lovers really defend Californian wine and affirm that some of them are as good as some of the best French wine. Is this your case?

Geoff Tate: You know, wine is very similar to music, I find. Everyone tastes wine differently, everyone hears music differently. There's lots of different varieties. Of course the French have been making wine for thousands of years, so they have a history and a wine culture that's very extensive. The French wine industry has really been the model for the American wine industry. We've learned a lot from the way they make wine in France, and we have similar growing conditions here in Washington state as there are is parts of France specifically the area around Cahors and Bordeaux. So there's a similarity there, in the land and the taste of the wines. Comparatively, I don't know. There's all kinds of contests and things like that, that they hold to taste these different wines, and people judge them, kind of like a sporting event. I don't know how accurate that is. I've always kind of been against the sporting mentality when it comes to music, and also to wine. I don't think you can really judge it, because everyone has different tastes. But I like French wines, Spanish wines, Italian wines. I like some wines from South Africa, some Chilean wines. I like wine from Washington state and from California. I like a lot of different things.

Radio Metal: David Coverdale from WHITESNAKE has his own brand of wine and James Maynard Keenan from the band TOOL produces his own wine in Arizona. Have you by any chance tasted their wine?

Geoff Tate: Yes, I tasted several bottles of Maynard's wine. But I haven't tasted David Coverdale's. I haven't had that yet.

Radio Metal: Is Maynard's wine good?

Geoff Tate: There was one bottle of Maynard's wine that I liked quite a bit. I think it's very good.

Read the entire interview from Radio Metal.

Photos below courtesy of Queensryche.com.