DT: MAY 21, 2014
‘THE 50 BY 50’
A NEW WINE BRAND AND ESTATE LOCATED IN THE
WOODEN VALLEY OF NAPA, CA
SAN FRANSICO TASTING EVENT
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
HOSTED BY FOUNDER GERALD CASALE OF THE LEGENDARY GROUP
DEVO
THE 50 BY 50’LAUNCHES WITH RAVE REVIEWS OF
2012 SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR AND
2013 SONOMA COAST ROSÉ OF PINOT NOIR
http://msopr.com/files/the50by50_by_chelsea_lauren_photo_275.jpg
Last month, GERALD V. CASALE, legendary musician and co-founder of the band DEVO, announced the launch of THE 50 BY 50, his new wine brand he created for the 23-acre 50 BY 50 estate located in the Wooden Valley of Napa, CA.
After a successful Los Angeles event, on Wednesday, May 28, CASALE will host a tasting party in San Francisco for the launch of his debut wines from THE 50 BY 50 at The McLoughlin Art Gallery (49 Geary St. STE 200 SF, CA 94104) from 4:00-7:00pm. At this event, guests will get meet CASALE, enjoy the “Iconoclasm” art exhibit from Arnix and Max Papeschi and taste the debut wines from THE 50 BY 50 which currently include: the 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and the 2013 Sonoma Coast Rosé of Pinot Noir (media RSVP is below).
THE 50 BY 50’s 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and the 2013 Sonoma Coast Rosé of Pinot Noir are garnering rave early reviews. Read a sample of the critical reaction here:
“The Rosé, in bottle for only three weeks, revealed a nose of strawberry, peach and lychee nut and an appealing weightiness; the masculine and balanced Pinot Noir was redolent of leather, tobacco and dark berries. The accents in both wines are decidedly European.”
–Phil Gallo, BILLBOARD, April 28, 2014
“…a smoky Pinot Noir, the result of a primo 2012 harvest from Roger’s Creek on the Sonoma Coast.”
–Steve Chagollan, VARIETY, May 1, 2014
“His Pinot came off as light but robust enough and full of fruit.”
–Oliver Jones, LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE, May 8, 2014
“The peach skin dusk of an L.A. sunset reflects off the windows of the Kun House, Richard Neutra’s 1936 Modernist masterwork, a graceful box of white wall and glass clutching at the rock walls of Nichols Canyon. Inside, people stand in lines to sample wines the colors of the darkening sky. Holding court among them, talking both grapes and architecture, is Gerald Casale. He’s the current owner of the Kun House, who is at the moment painstakingly renovating it to period-correct glory. He’s also the creator of the evening’s wine offerings from his new 50 by 50 winery: a wonderfully complex 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and a crisp, delicious 2013 Sonoma Coast Rosé of Pinot Noir. He’s best known as the co-founder of the defiantly odd post-punk/new wave musical experiment: DEVO.”
–Jessica Hundley, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, May 15, 2014
“The Rosé is dry, but still fruity and refreshing, especially on this hot day, and the Pinot has a racy acidity to it, like a bowl of tart cherries, that opens up your palette and will make it a great pairing with the barbecued meats of summer.”
–Andy Hermann, LA WEEKLY, May 1, 2014
“The grapes for the tasty and young Pinot Noir were first picked back on October 6, 2012 and spent eleven months in French Oak barrels and six months in wine bottles. All the while, the musician turned winemaker was hands on.”
–Jose Martinez, HUFFINGTON POST.COM, May 6, 2014
THE 50 BY 50 brand marks the evolution of GERALD’s longtime passion for wine which started in 1978 when DEVO–the iconic new wave, art punk group CASALE co-founded with Mark Mothersbaugh–left Ohio for the promise of California which delivered an explosive wake-up call to food and wine. “Commensurate with our ‘new wave’ music revolution, there was a gang of new wave chefs inventing culinary dreams in Los Angeles. I met restaurateurs Michael McCarty (Michael’s), Bruce Marder (Brentwood Restaurant, House Café), Wolfgang Puck (Spago, Wolfgang Punk, Chinois on Main, WP24), Piero Selvaggio (Valentino) and Jeremiah Tower (Stars) among others,” explains CASALE. “I became a disciple of the new California cuisine and the California wines with which it was often paired. After attending an endless array of California winemaker dinners, meeting many of the best, I drank my way to knowledge.”
“I’m often asked why we are launching THE 50 BY 50 with a Pinot Noir and a Rosé of Pinot Noir,” CASALE adds. “The answer is, I love the varietal, and I am a Pinot Noir junkie.” By 1990, DEVO had toured the world seven times over. CASALE became enamored with Italian and Spanish wines including Barbaresco, Barolo, Brunello, the Super Tuscans (Italy) and Vega Sicilia from Spain. One fateful night before a show in Paris, a French promoter started opening some legendary Domaine de la Romanée Conti (DRC) wines and CASALE fell in love with Pinot Noir. After returning to the states a short period later, CASALE gave California Pinot Noirs–which were reasonably priced and in low demand–another try. After enjoying a bottle of 1989 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir with breast of duck, he never looked back.
GERALD CASALE: http://msopr.com/files/the50by50_by_chelsea_lauren_photo_3.jpg.
Artist rendering of THE 50 BY 50 Estate house originally designed by 20th Century Modernist architect Mies Van Der Rohe.
Since Pinot Noir grapes don’t thrive in Napa’s Wooden Valley, THE 50 BY 50 went to the best location nearby to purchase the fruit where they do thrive–the Sonoma Coast. GERALD explains, “Our ambitious five-year plan for releasing our first vintage of complex, Bordeaux-style Estate wine is on course. Meanwhile, to launch our 50 by 50 brand, we are offering the 2012 Pinot Noir and 2013 Rosé of Pinot Noir as our debut releases. The fruit for both wines was grown and harvested at Rodger’s Creek, in the Sonoma Coast AVA (American Viticultural Area), helmed by Randy Luginbill and Jonathan Gold, veterans with 30 years of experience. Rodger’s Creek vines are 12 years old. The soils are a Kidd stony loam and our grapes came from vines on an approximately 9 percent slope at an elevation of 675 feet.”
The anchor of THE 50 BY 50 vision and its namesake rests in the creation of its estate house, a realization of a never-built architectural masterpiece known as the “50 by 50” designed over 60 years ago by the pre-eminent, 20th Century Modernist architect Mies Van Der Rohe. “Centrally located on the flat basin of THE 50 BY 50 Estate, it is the true inspiration of our brand,” GERALD explains. “This perfectly square design is clad in 8 high tempered glass panels measuring 10 feet high x 25 feet long. Therefore, each clear glass wall is bisected by only one vertical, load-bearing post. The view from inside gives the occupants an uninterrupted, 360 degree panorama of the 50 by 50 Estate with its gentle slopes, giant live oaks, terraced rows of grape vines and the mountains beyond.”
THE 50 BY 50 Estate is a 23-acre property situated southeast of the Atlas Peak AVA (American Viticultural Area) and north of the Wild Horse AVA on the Monticello Road incline in the Wooden Valley of Napa, CA. Starting at a roadside elevation of 830 feet, it meanders pleasantly down to 600 feet. The gentle slopes are covered with “forward gravelly loam,” a rich volcanic soil that drains well and lends itself perfectly to the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot varietals which are being planted there for the purpose of producing an exquisite, hand-crafted, bio-dynamically farmed Bordeaux-style blend in the coming years.
THE 50 BY 50 is available through retailer Wally’s Wine and Spirits in Los Angeles: 310-475-0606 www.wallywine.com. Price to consumer is 29.99 for the Pinot Noir and 19.99 for the Rosé. Online orders are also available with shipping to select states through Wally’s as well as THE 50 BY 50: www.thefiftybyfifty.com.
http://www.thefiftybyfifty.com
MSO Press releases & Assets:
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir: http://msopr.com/files/sonoma_pinot_noir_(2012)_low_res.jpg
2013 Sonoma Coast Rosé of Pinot Noir: http://msopr.com/files/rose_of_pinot_noir_(2013)_low_res.jpg
http://www.msopr.com/n/client-roster/the-50-by-50/
About DEVO:
Formed in 1972 in Akron, OH, DEVO–short for “de-evolution”–began as an art project cautioning that humans were devolving and regressing into a herd mentality of American society. A conceptual band from the beginning, DEVO were ahead of their time, incorporating elaborate aesthetics into their live shows and seamlessly combining their music with visuals years before MTV or any music-video culture existed. The band broke through to the mainstream with 1980’s Freedom of Choice, which contained the platinum-selling hit single and MTV smash, “Whip It”, and represented a peak in their songwriting. DEVO‘s next two albums, New Traditionalists and Oh NO It’s DEVO! continued their 1980’s decade world touring success accompanied by the hit songs, “Beautiful World” and “That’s Good” respectively. After releasing a studio album entitled Smooth Noodle Maps in 1990 the band left the world of touring and recording to pursue film and TV projects. By 2009 DEVO had over 35 new songs and interest from their original label, Warner Brothers Records and a year later they released their 9th studio recording, Something for Everybody. Currently the band is developing a musical as well as placing finishing touches on a darkly comic, “DEVO origins” feature film script. The band is confident that these major endeavors, when realized will show a new generation that de-evolution is real. DEVO Website: www.clubdevo.com
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For more information, contact:
MSO PR:
Libby Coffey 818.380.0400 x224, [email protected]
Andrea Faulk x227 [email protected]
SAN FRANCISCO TASTING EVENT RSVP:
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
WHERE:
The McLoughlin Gallery
49 Geary St. Suite 200
San Francisco 94104
RSVP: RSVP by Tuesday, May 27:
MSO PR
818.380.0400 x224
Libby Coffey/ [email protected]
NOTE: GERALD is available for advance interviews onsite interviews/ photo opps.
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