Blood Into Wine Page #2

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and we've been working together ever since.

I think We found out that we had

a lot in common as far as our drive,

both from our interest

in sustainability and agriculture,

but also our interest

in our entrepreneurial sides.

It just immediately made sense.

Within, like, three conversations,

we knew that we were going to be--

I was going to end up

being guided by this person.

I left the Santa cruz Mountains

making wine with David Bruce.

They said, "Why did you go to Arizona?"

And the difference is did I want to just be

another vineyard and winery

right next to everybody else

and just do what they're doing,

change it a little bit,

and say, "Okay, here's who I am,"

versus coming here

and trying something completely different?

And in doing that,

it means we have to dial things.

And we really are in a frontier.

We don't know

what is around the next bend,

and that certainly goes

for these viticultural efforts.

This is Merkin West.

And we're on a hill slope here,

kind of southeasterly facing,

overlooking the Verde Valley.

And what you're looking at here

is kind of the subsoils

underneath Maynard's Cab vineyard.

This whole valley below us here

used to be an ancient lake bed,

and it's possible that this material here

are old sediments

that sat in the bottom of that lake.

And that would help explain a little bit

why some of these rocks are smooth.

Maybe they were deposited there by rivers,

or maybe water was

working on them over time.

This ultimately is going to be

what gives Maynard's wines their character.

So not only are we on a frontier here

with regards to, you know, Arizona,

but we're on kind of a frontier here

with viticulture

and the idea of expressing this place

that is Maynard's vineyard.

And it's unlike any other Cabernet

I've ever had before.

Eric, at some point,

had either called me,

or over dinner,

had talked about meeting this rock star.

He said, "Well, his name is Maynard Keenan,

and I think his band is Tool, I think."

The way he presented it was pretty funny.

Something about in the cellar working

and this car rolls up--

big black car-- and this guy gets out.

And I think a girl with a leash

or a collar and black leather,

kind of like a female wolverine,

gets out of the car.

That's-- No.

I'm going to roll into a f***in' vineyard

with a chick in a dog collar?

Come on, dude.

So you dispute that story?

I completely dispute that

because I wouldn't roll

into a vineyard with somebody like that.

That's not-- It's not--

Look at me, dude. I'm not, you know...

What, am I Ozzy Osbourned-out right now?

I love Ozzy. Don't get me wrong.

But we're not shouting

at the devil right now.

We're not barking at the moon

or any of that stuff.

We're just--It's just,

we're in the f***ing woods.

We're out here digging in dirt.

No dog-collared eyeliner chicks allowed.

That's just embarrassing.

I met Maynard back in '93

on a tour called Lollapalooza.

He came walking up.

Who's this crazy guy?

He's got, like, this Mohawk.

I think he had army fatigues on

or something.

I was like, "Who is this guy?"

You know, one thing that Maynard's done

is that he's sold a sh*t-ton of records.

He's an incredibly successful person,

and he's, you know,

what they call a rock star.

He is a guy who made it.

Only probably the biggest genius

in the entire world.

Singer of Tool, singer of Puscifer,

singer ofA Perfect circle.

He's a very sexual,

very, you know, human being.

You know, he's in tune with himself.

A god amongst men.

I really don't know what to say.

It's Maynard.

Our best concert experience

was New Orleans.

It was a big festival,

and we were third row,

and it was just outstanding.

The crowd just moved us,

and it was the best.

We thought we were gonna die.

He has a beautiful voice.

Beautiful voice.

- And the way he mixes it up...

-His words.

His voice-- Literally, his voice--

not his artistic voice--

His physical voice is,

I think, at this point,

something that will be heard

and listened to

as long as people

are still listening to rock music

that involves, you know,

bass guitar and drums.

I love drawing people.

And his lyrics are like a muse to me.

- This is Maynard.

- This guy right here, Maynard.

We named him

after the guy from Tool, man.

We've been listening to them

since we were 1 3.

We're going to be 23 soon,

so it's been a good decade.

-Yeah.

- A decade with Tool.

That was f***ing awesome.

That was awesome just to see them

for a whole .2 seconds.

.2 seconds was well worth the wait.

My perception of Maynard

moving to Arizona to make wine

was probably similar

to a lot of other people's.

There was a bit of skepticism.

I think there's always a bit of skepticism

when somebody who's known for one thing

decides that

they want to do something else.

You know,

when Paul Stanley from KISS says,

"I'm going to start painting,"

you're like,

"This is not going to be any good."

And then you look at the paintings,

and it's not any good.

I was just like, "Okay,

dude's got a lot of money.

"You know, he's moving to Arizona,

and he's going to, like, you know,

try his hand at this."

And then it became

sort of clear very quickly

that this was not some sort of dilettante,

you know,

"Maybe I'lltry making some wine."

This was a passion for him.

So, Maynard, I guess

what everyone wants to know

is, you know,

why did you get into winemaking?

How and what did you

fall in love with about wine?

I get that--I get that question a lot,

and I guess I could ask--

You know, I could retort

with, you know, "Why music?"

I think it's just

everyone has that moment

when they discover something on their own

that wasn't handed to them

that kind of resonates on some certain level

that, you know,

drives them to ask more.

And it's kind of, you know,

a self-fulfilling thing.

You're kind of, you know--

You're kind of learning about yourself.

It's a matter of self-discovery,

and then you ask more questions.

And you make a sound,

and it's your sound,

and it resonates on some certain level,

and with me it was with winemaking.

I had that same moment

where l was, you know,

having the right wine with the right dinner,

and something clicked, and it just

compelled me to want to know more

about what that's about

and how it relates to my world

and this world I'm living in,

and how far can I take this as an artist?

Um, are you guys going

to follow me everywhere?

In the early '90s,

I graduated from Prescott College

with a degree in ecology.

But I specialized in riparian ecology,

or river ecology.

One of my first big contracts

was to do an inventory

about perennial streams

in the Prescott National Forest.

Within two years, I must have hiked,

you know, thousands of river miles.

Without error, there was always

a quince tree, apple, or pear there.

At that time,

I was already making beer.

And I just took

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