Wine clubs are not only for wine estates any more. In recent times, everyone from The Wall Street Journal to Diner's Club has launched wine clubs, all providing different incentives and perks for joining members.

An interest addition to the fray is American pop-rock band Train, famous for their recent Grammy-nominated hit, 'Hey, Soul Sister'. According to an article in The New York Times, 'The Train Wine Club lives on a web site where visitors can join the club, read blog posts, listen to music, find out about the “wine of the month,” enter contests to win concert tickets, sign up for mobile applications and be connected to the band’s official web site, Facebook page and Twitter feed.'

The band's lead singer Jimmy Stafford is a wine enthusiast and the driving force behind this venture. The band is also from San Francisco, a region known for its wine.

The article further states: 'After Mr. Stafford began blogging about his interest in wine ontrainline.com “he got a lot of feedback,” Mr. McLynn says, “and people starting bringing bottles of wine to the shows” and giving them to him “at the meet-and-greets.”

That dovetails with the fact that “the core Train fan,” who Mr. McLynn describes as “a man or woman from the mid-20s to the mid-40s” is already wine-minded, he says, adding, “Wine is probably the drink they drink before they come out to the shows.”'

Train may also be launching their own brand of wine, called Drops of Jupiter, next year.

Locally some musicians with their own wines include The Parlotones and Zinkplaat, but not a wine club…yet. In the international music arena it is a way for musicians to leverage their brand in an industry where CD's are becoming defunct. 

Source: The New York Times