Celebrity Bon Jovi Is Making Rosé

If a Bon Jovi song were a drink, we might expect it to be a shot of whiskey. Maybe with a cold beer back. Or a Jack and Coke, bold and all American.

A French rosé? That doesn't come to mind.

But proving that even old-school rock icons can't get enough pink wine these days, Bon Jovi and his son, Jesse Bongiovi, are launching a French-made rosé, which they're calling Diving into Hampton Water. It's essentially the wine the father and son would want to drink themselves during their Hamptons escapes, explicitly intended for warm-weather sipping. And though tapping into the wild popularity of rosé in the Hamptons and summer enclaves are of the same ilk, it's still a French-made wine with a serious pedigree. 

Bon Jovi is hardly the first celebrity to get into the wine game—Sting, Drew diBarrymore and Dave Matthews are just a few on the list—but Bon Jovi's teaming up with a partner who has deep roots in the wine world, Gérard Bertrand.

Bertrand grew up in the world of winemaking. He was taught in the vineyards by his father from the age of 10 and took over the family business after his father passed away. Today, he is one of the largest private producers in the Languedoc, France's largest winemaking region, and is a pioneer of biodynamic winemaking in the area. And perhaps contributing to the partners' affinity for each other is that Bertrand is an unabashed music enthusiast. He's thrown an outdoor festival, Festival Jazz à l'Hospitalet, at his expansive estate, Château l'Hospitalet, every year since 2004, featuring both local and international artists. 

If you're a rosé fan, you've almost certainly tried a rosé from Provence, the French region most closely associated with pink wine. But the Languedoc, another coastal region, has its own long history of rosé production and makes use of many of the same grapes. Diving into Hampton Water is a great representative of the regional style: crisp, refreshing, quaffable and well suited—it should be little surprise—for drinking in the sun, poolside or beachside. Pairing-wise, you'll want to sip it with light, easy bites or salads and seafood. Essentially: summer food.

"It captures the spirit shared between the Hamptons and the South of France," Bertrand says. "The joie de vivre and a good bottle of wine to share with friends."

Diving into Hampton Water will launch on February 23 in 17 states (primarily on the East Coast) and retail for $25. If you need something to toast to, here's a starting point: Bon Jovi is getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this April. 

Carey Jones is a New York-based food and travel writer and the author of Brooklyn Bartender: A Modern Guide to Cocktails and Spirits. Follow her on Twitter at @careyjones.