Entertainment

Train Is Rocking the World With Its Music and Wines

In 1998, they released their debut album Train and started churning out hits (Meet Virginia). Their follow-up album Drops of Jupiter was released in 2001 and won 2 Grammys and you probably couldn’t go anywhere the summer of that year and not hear Drops of Jupiter playing.

They followed up with the My Private Nation album in 2003 and had another huge hit with Calling All Angels. After taking a three-year hiatus beginning in 2006 to recharge their creative batteries, they returned with another album and launched yet another huge hit Hey Soul Sister. And their latest album was released in 2012 and – you got it – featured one of last summer’s big hits Drive By.

But if you think all these talented men (Pat Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood) do is churn out great albums one after another, you’re mistaken. As we told you back in March, celebrity wines have become a big business around the world, with some celebrities endorsing wines and others becoming true wine makers.

And now Train has – for lack of a better phrase – jumped on the wine train. Their wine company is named Save Me, San Francisco (the name of their fifth album). Band member Jimmy Stafford was the driving force behind the creation of the company and he had as one of the top priorities of the venture creating wines that not only tasted great but were reasonably priced (under $12.00 a bottle) to make them more affordable for the group’s very large fan base.

So far the band has released four wines, each with a name inspired by one of Train’s songs or albums. Calling All Angels is a chardonnay, Drops of Jupiter is a red blend and CA-37 (a shortened version of their latest album, California 37, is a cabernet sauvignon. Their newest release, Soul Sister, is a pinot noir.

The group has also partnered with Ghirardelli Chocolates (also San Francisco-based) to release limited edition chocolate bars that can be purchased at their concerts and at Ghirardelli’s website.

And in the spirit of promoting their hometown of San Francisco and giving back to the community, a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the wines and chocolates is going to Family House, a home away from home for the families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Family House provides not only free housing for these families (who have children receiving treatment at the UC San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital) but also provides both physical and emotional comfort to them. So far, the band has provided Family House with well over $50,000 from the proceeds of the wine sales.

So if you’re in the market for a good wine (and all of Train’s wines have been very well reviewed) while doing good at the same time, consider getting yourself a bottle, putting on some music (preferably a Train song) and enjoying yourself.

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