Review: NV Cali by Snoop 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted Red Blend
Tupac Shakur was impossible to place into a specific, tidy category for the sake of convenience, the result of an intentional refusal to stay in one lane long enough for anyone to simplify him. He could move from party swagger to full political indictment in the space of a verse, sometimes in the same breath, and still command total seriousness from people who gravitated to him for very different reasons: the kids leaning out of custom cars with Swisher smoke curling around them, the academics tracing the line from Black Panther politics to late-20th-century Black radical thought, and everyone in between who understood that the same artist could be hedonist and prophet without it feeling like a contradiction. That range was not an accident, nor was it an exercise in major-label branding: it was part of the force of his work. Shakur’s mother, Afeni, was a key figure in the Black Panther movement, and that legacy mattered. It gave the music a political voltage that never drained, even if the low-end was doing everything in its power to make you forget one’s obligations to history and the political climate of the Bush-Clinton cohort for a few minutes.
His career was already moving at light speed before he entered Dr. Dre’s Death Row orbit, but his addition at the label turned the artist roster into a force with minimal competition. Death Row, who understood better than most the value of making every project feel like a cultural moment, paired Shakur with Snoop Dogg on “2 of Amerika’s Most Wanted,” a track from “All Eyez on Me” that was equal parts flex, inside joke, and warning label. “All Eyez On Me” took off: only the second album to chart at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip Hop Charts. Seven months later came the Las Vegas assassination, which stopped everything in the most final way possible and left behind the legacy of an icon whose importance grows with each passing wave of new artists. Unlike his audience, Shakur was denied the opportunity to age into someone else.
Snoop, much to his credit, has always grasped the basic commercial principle that anything can be monetized if the artwork and timing are right. He is a man who knows how to meet the moment. So now there is a limited-edition wine on the Cali by Snoop line, built as a commemoration of the collaboration and as a reliable way to transform nostalgia into checkout item. Which is to say that the bottle is doing what many celebrity wines do: reminding you that reverence and merchandising have long since become complicated roommates, and that neither one intends to move out. Snoop just happens to have the massive fanbase to add momentum to the movement. Enough context and editorial commentary. Let’s see if this is worthy of the two icons lovingly sketched on the bottle’s label.
NV Cali by Snoop 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted Red Blend Review
As expected from a Cali red blend, big black cherry notes dominate on the nose, with a slight touch of vanilla and wet wood making an appearance as things settle. Quite thick and full-throated on the palate, cherry and raspberry compote do most of the heavy lifting while the acidity keeps a low profile and the tannins declare their presence. As it evolves, the fruit is accompanied by mild notes of cigar box and baking spice. The finish stays firmly in that raspberry register, refusing to let up at any point.
This is a novelty first, a wine after that, and above all else a cultural souvenir. It belongs less at a dinner party where people want to debate terroir or this year’s weather in Douro than at a gathering where someone is about to say, with complete conviction, that the ’90s will never really end. On that point, unfortunately, they just might be on to something.
B / $15
The post Review: NV Cali by Snoop 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted Red Blend appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider’s Guide to Good Drinking.