- Ask someone to name a kosher wine,
and they'll likely say one of two things:
Manichewitz or Bartenura Moscato.
In recent years, Bartenura has found
a second life outside
the Four Cups on Passover
thanks to a barrage of references
to Moscato in rap music.
Some of Hip Hop's biggest
names have become fans
of the blue bottle, so
it begs the question:
how does Moscato, the oldest
and often least expensive wine varietal,
take over a music scene known
for its pursuit of luxury?
Like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon,
Moscato is a wine varietal that comes
from a specific species of grape, Muscat.
It's believed to be the oldest
domesticated family of grape,
with over 200 varieties.
While Muscat traces its roots as far back
as 3,000 years ago, the
highly improbable connection
of Moscato and Hip Hop dates
back to the early 1990s.
Between the early nineties and mid-2000s,
you'd often hear songs
referencing a whole bunch
of high-end alcoholic
drinks, including Cristal
and Dom Perignon.
Notorious B. I. G, Nas,
and Jay-Z have all cited
the luxury champagnes in their music.
Jay-Z's 40/40 Club would
regularly sell out of Cristal
at a premium of 450 to 600 dollars a pop.
Cristal even appeared in the top 10
brand lyrical mentions in 2005.
But that all changed in 2006
after an Economist interview
with the Managing Director
of Cristal's manufacturer,
Frederic Rouzaud.
In a section of the article
titled "Unwelcome Attention,"
Rouzaud was asked if the association
between rap's bling lifestyle
and the illustrious champagne
could hurt the brand's image.
He responded by saying
that's a good question,
but what can we do?
We can't forbid people from buying it.
The article went on to compare
Hip-Hop's love for Cristal
to notorious Congo dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko's affinity
for Dom Perignon's Rose.
Yikes.
This did not sit well with Jay-Z.
He responded swiftly, saying
that he would no longer
drink bottles of Cristal,
or stock it at his club.
And when one of the greatest rappers alive
takes a stand against a
rap staple, people notice.
Lil' Kim is generally
considered the first rapper
to reference Moscato in
her 2005 song Lighter's Up.
♪ Still over in Brzil sippin' Moscato ♪
♪ You must have frgot thoug ♪
♪ So, i'ma tke it back te block yo ♪
But the bubbly white wine
didn't take over the rap scene
until after Jay-Z's boycott.
The references really started to pour in
with the Bar Mitzvah boy himself, Drake.
In his 2009 song "Do It Now" he raps,
♪ It's a Celebration ♪
♪ Clap clap bravo ♪
♪ Lobster and Shrimp
and a glass of Moscato ♪
Just one year later,
Waka Flocka put Moscato
front and center in the chorus
of his chart-topping hit "No Hands".
♪ DJ, turn me up ♪
♪ Ladies dis yo jam, come on ♪
♪ I'ma sip Moscato ♪
By 2011, Moscato sales
rose over 70 percent
from the previous year,
crossing the 300 million dollar threshold.
Danny Brager, senior vice president
of beverage and alcohol
practice at Nielsen,
a data and measurement firm,
told NPR that in his 10 years
following the wine category,
he'd never seen anything like Moscato's
meteoric rise to popularity.
While Moscato could be found
in a slew of rap songs,
it was very hard to find the varietal
at local liquor stores, and the kosher,
Italian-based Bartenura
winery knew they could
seize the moment with
their blue-bottled Moscato.
Jay Buchsbaum, executive vice president
at Royal Wine, Bartenura's distributor,
explained that once they
started hearing rappers
name-dropping Moscato, they
knew they had to go for broke.
Buschbaum explained that
they spent a fortune
on advertising to fans of hip-hop.
They became the official
Moscato of the LA Dodgers
and put massive billboards
with their "Out of the Blue" slogans
all over Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
It all paid off.
To this day, Bartenura remains
one of the most popular Moscatos.
And with an average
price tag of around $13,
it's pretty accessible too.
And when Bartenura was being mentioned,
it was the distinct blue
bottle that held the spotlight.
DJ Khaled sips, pours and
poses with bottles of Bartenura
in his music video for
2011's "I'm On One".
More recently, in 2017, Lil'
Wayne offered a piece of advice
to his male Facebook fans, telling them
to buy their girlfriends
a bottle of Bartenura
for Valentine's Day.
Bartenura initially burst
onto the kosher wine scene
in the 1970s as an alternative
to the overly sweet,
syrupy Manischewitz, with
a line of dry red wines.
After the success of their dry
wines, they added a handful
of new varietals, including
the famous blue bottle
of Bartenura Moscato.
And where exactly does the
name Bartenura come from?
The winery is named for
Rabbi Ovadiah of Bertinoro,
also known as The Bartenura,
a 15th century rabbi
most famous for his
commentary on the Mishnah,
the authoritative written collection
of Jewish oral traditions
that forms the first part
of the Talmud.
The Italian rabbi first made his way
to the land of Israel
around 1488, using donations
from Italian Jews to reinvigorate
the oppressed Jewish communities
in Jerusalem and Hebron.
Following the Spanish Inquisition,
many of the Spanish Jews who
came to Jerusalem continued
to support him.
As his influence grew,
The Bartenura was able
to use his prestige to
lobby the Muslim rulers
to remove some of the
discriminatory laws of the time.
He was held in such high esteem
that he was frequently called upon
by the Muslim community
to decide legal cases.
What's even more interesting
are the parallels
between the Bartenura winery's namesake
and the path that brought
Moscato into the spotlight.
At its core, this is
a story about respect.
The Bartenura spent his life fighting
for the Jewish community of Israel
to get a little more respect,
and used his reputation
to influence the world around him.
And that's exactly what these rappers did.
When they felt disrespected by the brands
they themselves helped promote,
they got their respect
back by using their clout
to impact pop culture, and major brands.
In a world where anyone can set a trend
and change the world, the
legacy of the Bartenura
and the influence of Hip Hop
make for an excellent pairing.
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(tempo music)
