Few musicians have been as successful in multiple styles as Darius Rucker. The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter first came to prominence as the lead vocalist for Hootie & the Blowfish, which he co-founded with friends when he was a student at the University of South Carolina.
In 2008, the band went on hiatus, and Rucker pivoted to country music. He quickly became a leading light in the genre. Today, he continues to perform, both as a solo act and with Hootie, which reunited in 2019. He frequently plays benefit concerts for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and in May, he released a memoir, Life’s Too Short, reflecting on his career and musical influences.
Earlier this year, Rucker joined As One Cru, a wine project started by winemaker Chris Radomski, a co-founder of the Hundred Acre Wine Group with Jayson Woodbridge. The label’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are currently available, and the group has plans for future releases, including white and sparkling wines.
Rucker and Radomski talked with assistant editor Kenny Martin about their ambitions for As One Cru, wine and creativity, and more.
What inspired you to join As One Cru?
Darius Rucker: For me it was the wine. I met Chris, and I said, “I want to taste the wine before we have any conversations at all.“ I remember opening the Cabernet Sauvignon and thinking, “Are you kidding me?” You hear the ratings and want to taste it for yourself. I was just blown away, and I thought, if I can be involved in this in any way, shape or form, I want to be.
What kinds of wine do you usually drink?
DR: I’m a red guy. I like Pinot Noir, I like Cab, Barolo, Brunello. I know what I like, and when I like something, I drink a lot of it—I do drink a lot of wine. Our Cabernet is an example of a wine that I like a ton, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.
How did you get into wine? Was it around the house when you were growing up, or was it something that came later?
DR: I wasn’t a wine drinker at all until around 1994. I was hanging out with Dan Marino a lot, and staying at his house. [Rucker is a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, and Marino is both a wine lover and co-owner of Passing Time Wines in Washington.] He started bringing out these red wines and making me drink them. Well, after the first day or so, he didn’t have to make me drink them anymore! I wanted to drink as much as I could, and I’ve loved red wine ever since. Today, I still have a nice little collection—I wouldn’t call it a cellar, but a closet of wine.
Do you remember what that first bottle was?
DR: Of course! It was a Bertani Amarone. I remember it like it was yesterday. We drank tons of that stuff.
Do you have any regions or producers you focus on in your collecting?
DR: Not really—I like it all! I like reds, and I like trying new stuff. I have friends in the business who’ll send me wines I don’t know, and I always try them. But when I like something, I just like it. That’s what was crazy when I started drinking our Pinot. Not that I wasn’t a Pinot guy—I just didn’t drink a lot of Pinot at the time. But I tried it and was blown away. You can drink a bottle and not even think about it, because it’s so smooth and tastes so good.
Beyond the wine itself, what else about the project attracted you?
DR: The whole One Cru idea is great. Chris and I were sitting around, and he told me the story of how a bunch of good friends got together and decided to do this. Not all wine guys—a hockey player, a chef, people from different walks of life—but all wine drinkers.
Talking to Chris, hearing all about it, and talking to the guys, I just wanted to be part of the crew. And loving the wine made it so much easier for me to decide to be a part of it.
I’ve been offered a lot of opportunities—wine, spirits, you name it—and I’ve always turned them down because it wasn’t real for me. But talking to Chris and learning about As One Cru, I felt that this is real.
Tell us more about your involvement in the project.
DR: We’re about to come out with new releases, and I’m a part of that—part of the tasting, part of everything we’re doing. That’s important to me because I’m not a guy who just wants to put my name behind something and not actually be involved in it. When my name is on something, I want to be a real part of it. Chris has allowed me to be as involved as I want to be, and I think that’s really cool.
Where is the label headed, Chris, and how does Darius contribute?
Chris Radomski: We’ve been releasing the Carneros Pinot and Howell Mountain Cabernet for a few years now, very quietly. I’ve been working on a project up in the Willamette Valley, and we’re working on something in Monterey. We’re at the point with those wines that blending is starting to happen, and that’s something I’m eager to have Darius involved with, so that he’s proud to have his name attached to the project. Neither of us are big fans of white wine, so it’s fun to sit down together and say, if both of us really like this Chardonnay, then it must be pretty darn good!
We’re also working on a subset of the Cru to be a little more approachable in terms of price, and I’m excited to have Darius on board for this chapter of the project. He has such a broad reach with his fans, and it’s a great opportunity to get wine to people who maybe haven’t tried wine.
What future releases can fans look forward to?
CR: I’ve done two Chardonnay harvests in the Willamette Valley. The 2022 was just bottled and will be available soon. We also did a single-vineyard sparkling from the Sonoma Coast, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. That wine’s beautiful.
We’re definitely hoping to bring some new wines out soon—starting with Chardonnay, and mostly directed toward restaurant sales. I’m more of a Sauvignon Blanc drinker, but I think the majority of the world still pushes for Chardonnay. We’ll probably do both eventually—I’ve been tasting different wines and looking at some vineyards and am excited about the possibilities.
What we’d like to do is have a grouping of wines that are more accessible, but that are made with the same care and attention as our more expensive wines. So if it’s a $25 wine, it’ll taste like a $60 wine. It’s all about figuring out the balance between the very small-production wines geared toward restaurant sales, and more price-conscious, great wines geared toward the everyday consumer.
Do you drink when you’re writing songs, Darius, or when you’re on tour? Do wine, music and creativity go together for you?
DR: Absolutely. I drink wine when I write. I drink wine on stage! Wine is one of those things for me that’s part of all that. There’s nothing like sitting down with your buddies to write songs and opening a bottle of wine.
It seems like wine is having a moment among country music singers. Have you seen the fans turning to wine too?
For example, Scotty McCreery sings about it, and Dolly Parton now has her own wine.
DR: I’ve really seen that in the last 10 years. I think it has to do with how it’s cool to sit and enjoy wine with friends. It brings people together. You open a bottle and everyone has a glass. You’re not going to sit down and pour a glass of whisky for everybody. But everyone has a glass of wine, you enjoy it, it’s great for social occasions. I really see it spreading in country music—and not just with the ladies, with men too. You see it a lot more than when I started out, and that’s a great thing.
