Maynard James Keenan - Winemaking and Other Endeavors

Winemaking and Other Endeavors

In addition to being part-owner of Cobras & Matadors, an LA restaurant run by Steven Arroyo, and owner of a produce market in Cornville, Arizona; Keenan, whose grandparents and great-uncle made wine in Northern Italy (in what is now Southern France), owns Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars, based in the unincorporated area of Page Springs/Cornville, Arizona, southwest of Sedona, where he resides. While the winery is named after an ancient symbol for commerce (caduceus), the vineyard is named after a pubic wig (merkin). He is also a partner of Stronghold Vineyards, "an 80-acre site dedicated to producing affordable wines in the state", located in the small, unincorporated area known as Kansas Settlement in Sulfur Springs Valley, Arizona. Keenan's mother died in 2003, at the age of 59, due to complications from an aneurysm. Following her death, he scattered her ashes across one of his vineyards, and later named one of his wines after her, honoring her memory with his Cabernet Sauvignon "Nagual del Judith". In a statement released in April 2009, Keenan stated:

I am standing on a metaphorical plateau. The view from here suggests that I/we still have many mountains to negotiate. It has already been a long journey. But the successes and failures have been in balance. Which would suggest that I/we have chosen the correct path. I hold in my hands the evidence to support this statement . . . With tears in my eyes, I present to you the very first 100 percent Arizona Caduceus wine. Nagual del Judith, named after my late mother, Judith Marie.

His previous wines were named after relatives of the Chiricahua Apache chief Cochise who lived in the area where the vineyard is located, and were produced at Page Springs Cellars, owned by Keenan's business partner. While those wines used some fruits imported from California, "Nagual del Judith" is the first made entirely from Keenan's own vineyard.

During the fall season of 2008, Keenan began a small tour of sorts with his Stronghold Vineyards partner Eric Glomski, promoting his wine with signing sessions at Whole Foods Markets in California and Nevada. The tour continued in 2009 with sessions in Texas kicking off in March, and appearances scheduled during Tool's 2009 summer tour in Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. In July 2009, Keenan opened an organic market which features a tasting room for his Arizona wines as well as a food court. In an interview with Spinner.com that same month, Keenan stated that he had been taught by Southwestern chefs "how to make spaghettis and pastas and gnocchis and various soup stocks", which would be made fresh and served at the tastings.

Keenan is featured in Blood Into Wine: The Arizona Stronghold, a documentary co-produced by Moog filmmakers Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenk that chronicles Keenan and Glomski's embarkation into winemaking in the desert conditions of Arizona's Verde Valley, and the success they've seen in the decade since its inception. The film, which includes appearances from Tim & Eric, Patton Oswalt, and Milla Jovovich, was shown at the Noise Pop Festival on February 25, 2010, along with another documentary produced by Pomerenk, The Heart is a Drum Machine. It investigates why people create and listen to music, and features Keenan, Jason Schwartzman, Kurt Loder, Nic Harcourt, Juliette Lewis, and Elijah Wood.

In a 2006 Interview, Pamela Ravenwood talked to Maynard Keenan about his initial endeavors in wine making, as seen in this Jerome Arizona blog entry.

During an interview on the Australian podcast Wine Week, Keenan revealed that his touring with various bands will only occur at times when his winemaking endeavours allow it.