Me, Two Guys Named Bongiovi, And Lots of Wine
Every story can be a wine story. That’s what Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher of Grape Collective told us at The Meadowood Wine Writers’ Symposium in March 2023. As one of the 24 fellows, I listened intently as we actively rethought new ways to write about wine. For me, wine has been at the center of my life for the last 13 years. And while the tech sheet info on the regions, varietals, and vinification methods are endlessly fascinating, the people are the most interesting. Whether I’m writing about my old arch enemies, Pajama Pants and Corn Nuts Guy from my retail days, or as you’re about to read, Jesse and Jon Bongiovi of Hampton Water Rosé; the stories behind the people are what makes me ponder life. And pondering life while drinking wine should be an Olympic sport.
I received an invite to a small press dinner for the 2022 vintage launch of Hampton Water. Hosted by Jesse and Jon Bongiovi. Um, WHAT?? I typed back my reply “I think I’d be a fool not to come. Thank you.” I already loved the wine, a French rosé from Languedoc created in collaboration with winemaker Gérard Bertrand. Bertrand makes wine that changes minds about rosé (for those who still need to have their minds changed)
New French oak barrels give a balance of flavor and texture. Strawberry and tangerine flavors with this almost creamy mouthfeel makes Hampton Water very easy to drink on its own (as I was happy to demonstrate that night) or with the amazing Mediterranean meets Long Island menu prepared by Chef Nicholas McCann of Society Café at The Walker Hotel in Greenwich Village.
The 90-point ratings for four consecutive years from Wine Spectator, and Top 100 spots on Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiasts lists will hush up the naysayers that dismiss Hampton Water as being that Bon Jovi celebrity wine.
So read the paragraph below from a press release before I tell you all about the night that gave me some serious street cred on the blacktop at school pick-up the next day after posting a picture of me with Jon and Jesse to Facebook.
“The new vintage is just as fresh, lively and easy to drink as previous vintages but I would argue even brighter. I think what makes our rosé so special is that it is not grown in the same region as most other French wines. Because our wine is made in Languedoc along the Mediterranean Sea vs. Provence, Hampton Water rosé has its own unique flavor. I can’t wait for you all to taste it. It’s sure to be a staple all year long,” Jesse Bongiovi, Co-Founder of Hampton Water. The wine boasts a fresh and lively taste with notes of strawberry and citrus, culminating in a beautiful and long-lasting finish. This year’s blend is composed of Grenache (60%), Cinsault (15%), Mourvèdre (15%), and Syrah (10%) grapes sourced from the best French terroirs.
Girl From New Jersey Sits On A Couch With Jon Bongiovi And Lives To Tell
So, the first thing I want to say is that any remaining nerves completely disappeared as soon as we started talking. Maybe it’s the “Jersey-Girl-I-grew-up-with-this-guy” core memory feeling? But more likely it’s the fact that Jon and Jesse couldn’t have been more genuine and nice if they tried.
And now let’s back it up to before I knew that for sure - when I was still regretting accepting this invite as my nerves got the best of me outside the Walker Hotel on 13th Street. But I gave myself a calming pep talk that included sentences like:
“You’ve come so far in your writing career, keep going!”
“You know what you’re doing. And if you don’t, fake it ‘til you do!”
“Just don’t scream I’m a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride at any point, and you’ll be fine!”
The Walker Hotel is a super cool speakeasy style spot with a sunken living room feel in the small lobby. A live jazz trio of students from Parsons School across the street played off to the side as my eyes adjusted from the sunny sidewalk to the cozy and dimly lit entry. Where to now? It was mysterious. I was confused. Or maybe I just don’t get out much.
I approached a man in a suit and almost simply blurted out “Umm, errr, duh, duh derp de derp - BON JOVI PLEASE!”
But I caught myself and that was quickly translated into human language as “Hello, I’m here for the Hampton Water event.”
I was politely pointed down a dark hallway to a beautifully candlelit dining room with a small bar and met by the hotel and Hampton Water press people. All very friendly and welcoming and my nerves quickly dissipated along with immediately trying one of the new Hampton Water based cocktails called a Paloma. Sugar rimmed with grapefruit juice and soda, the cocktail menu was a nice surprise for this simple wine focused girl. Wine based cocktails have come a long way from simple spritzers.
I mingled with the small group, eager to meet any other writers. But it was fun talking about the various industries everyone was in. Whether hotel or restaurant hospitality, public relations, or marketing, the conversations that happen around wine are always unexpected.
I had prepared a list of questions in my little notebook for Jesse and Jon, but not knowing exactly when I would get the chance to ask them. The setting was more intimate than I thought it would be and I just let it unfold with the help of my drink in one hand and my notebook in the other. Backpack slung over my shoulder and a smile on my face helped by my new Maybelline indelible lipstick, I just chatted away as if this was a normal night out for me.
“Erica, it’s almost time for dinner, are you ready to go downstairs?” the very nice PR woman asked. Still no mention of Jesse or Jon and I just went with the flow, assuming we were going to eat downstairs. But as Felix Unger famously said “When you assume you make an Ass out of U and Me” – dinner was not downstairs.
Still with my drink in hand, I was shown down another dark hallway to a nice young man in a suit standing against what appeared to be a black wall. My mind just went into autopilot, and I watched as he pressed upon the wall and it OPENED! Stay with me here…I was now looking at what appeared to be a housekeeping closet. Shelves with cleaning supplies, a mop, towels, bottles, Lysol. The young man then pulled back a Windex bottle and that wall OPENED! I just stood there watching with my brain on autopilot. And then I saw into the room, not six feet away, a tall blur of bright white hair standing up with an outstretched hand. “Hi, I’m Jon.”
I was told in an email I’d have about ten minutes to ask my questions about Hampton Water and how this double-digit growing brand got started. But I sat on that couch with Jesse and Jon for almost half an hour. Jon has a quietness about him, and I saw a definite telepathy between this really warm and fun father/son duo. I wanted to touch on Hampton Water’s charitable tie-ins with The Roots Fund and Pink Agenda, with their focus charity changing every year.
I asked Jon how he and his wife, Dorothea, instilled into Jesse the charitable giving he does in so many avenues, including Hampton Water Wine Company. The JBJ Soul Foundation, founded in 2006, fights against hunger and homelessness in the local communities. With a solid belief in the “Power of We”, check out the foundation’s website to read more. I plan on visiting the JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank this summer to learn more about this pay-what-you-can restaurant and their work against hunger.
“It’s not so much that I intentionally instilled it in my kids - and I have four - the importance of charity. I think you just learn by watching. Just like I watched my parents, our kids watch us and just learn. They just see it and it becomes part of how they operate,” Jon told me. “Saying you give charity and actually doing it are two different things,” Jon added. Jon is the real deal when it comes to putting his money where his mouth is and his foundation clearly demonstrates that.
Jon is a family man. And Jesse’s idea to create Hampton Water was the start of a family business.
Hampton Water aims to recreate that feeling of relaxation with family and friends in The Hamptons, a laid back and beautiful part of Long Island, New York.
Fun Fact: The wine couldn’t be named Hamptons Water because The Hamptons, Long Island is an actual American Viticultural Area (AVA). Because the grapes for the rose are grown in Languedoc France, using Hamptons violated wine labeling laws. So, Jon and Jesse came up with idea to simply remove the “s” and still convey the feeling of their family’s home. *And having that explained to me by Jon himself may be one of the most wonderfully surreal moments of my wine life. Jon Bongiovi talking wine speak. This wine geek was smitten.
Jesse is passionate about his brand and works hard to support it. Graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in political science as well as playing on Notre Dame’s football team, Jesse has a personality that is hard to resist. With my ten years working in retail wine sales, Jesse and Jon and I happily chatted about what it takes to get a wine onto a store shelf and then into a customer’s hands. Even with the name Bongiovi and an acclaimed winemaker behind the juice, it’s a very competitive market.
Jesse travels a lot, meeting consumers, pouring his wine, signing bottles, and taking pictures with fans. And he’s not one to complain about this schedule, knowing about the hard work that’s needed. Maybe having a rockstar father who took his small New Jersey bar band to global success set a solid example.
“Do you have plans for growing Hampton Water?” I asked Jesse and was so excited when he said yes. “We will be launching another wine and it will be another rose, and that’s all I can tell you,” he said with a smile.
To describe their goals for growth, Jon told me, “I have to use a music analogy for this…we are playing really nice venues right now, but we want to play stadiums,” referring to goals for sales and distribution.
As I sipped my glass of Hampton Water, poured by Jesse himself, and took notes of this conversation, I really felt at ease. Sure JBJ was sitting right across from me. I grew up with this guy. I could launch into a duet of a number of his songs right here and now. But what’s funny is that I really was having fun talking about the wine business and creating another part of their family legacy. As a proud parent myself, I loved seeing up close and personal Jon’s pride in his son.
“There are no rules to this,” Jesse said as we discussed different ways to get a new generation to drink wine. Hampton Water based inventive cocktails (check out the website for recipes) help show versatility along with a new partnership with Sprinkles Cupcakes, and a vibrant social media presence.
As our time came to an end in this private cool little room (designed by Park Avenue Artists) I wished Jon and Jesse good luck with everything. But then turned that into a final question. “Do you believe in luck?” Jon smiled that smile and let a few seconds pass while he thought about how to answer. “I believe in hard work,” he said. “That’s a good answer,” I smiled back, feeling energized with a belief in possibility.
I sat next to Jesse for dinner, giving us a chance to continue talking after my already lengthy official time with this father and son. Firstly, this guy is funny. Like really funny. We talked about everything from his recent engagement, rollercoasters, and the fact that he was witnessing this Jewish girl eat pork belly for the first time. News Flash: I liked it! And I then shared a story about the first time I ate lobster at a church fundraiser. Jesse and I were fast becoming BFFs whether he wanted to or not. Even after I unnecessarily admitted that while I liked Bon Jovi a lot, I was more of an 80’s new-waver back in the day. And after referring to my recent time in Napa for the Meadowood Wine Writers’ Symposium for the eighth time, Jesse very good naturedly teased me with “You and your Napa!”
The menu was family style, inventive, and plentiful but I was talking too much to even eat everything I wanted to try. Chef McCann explained how he used a reduction of Hampton Water to cook a few of the dishes including the Long Island Duck Roulade and a Spring Risotto (my favorite) and when I hear the words wine reduction, I get giddy.
So, yes I will be blurting out “I interviewed Jon and Jesse Bongiovi!’ every chance I get. I’ll be drinking Hampton Water with a memory of a great evening that cemented some important lessons.
1. Don’t let nerves get the best of you when presented with amazing opportunities.
2. Just be yourself... even when you’re talking to a Bongiovi.
3. Whether you’re a writer, a New Jersey bar band gone global, a founder of a charitable foundation, or a wine brand entrepreneur…it takes hard work.
So next time you’re looking for a wine to try, grab a bottle (or three) of Hampton Water Rosé It’s a delicious choice backed up by a great family. And if you want me to duet any Bon Jovi song with you while you drink, just DM me. I’m always game.
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