ANYONE WHO'S sampled one of the many rock autobiographies that line bookstore shelves will be familiar with a musician's hard-partying lifestyle. Decadent tales of mainlining, loose groupies and the real Jack-and-coke (whiskey and cocaine) are ubiquitous.
But as your favourite guitar shredders enter their twilight years - the majority are now in their 60s - many face a perplexing situation: where can they satisfy their boozing urges?
The answer for some is simple, and a common one for many middle-class adults who turn from clubbing to child-raising: the wonderful world of wine. It's a respectable market, and with iTunes and illegal downloads making album sales practically non-existent, one profitable enough to justify flogging their dying-horse legacy by sticking their name on a bottle.
AC/DC, the schoolboy-clad rockers of the '70s and '80s, are the latest band to announce a line of wines inspired by their music. Titled AC/DC The Wine, the head-bangers have teamed up with their fellow Aussies at Warburn Estate for bottles that will capitalise on their most popular albums. With titles such as Back in Black Shiraz, Highway to Hell Cabernet Sauvignon and You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato, each wine's label is a recreation of the album's cover.
'We wanted to make sure that AC/DC's home fan base had easy access to their rock icons' wines,' says Steve Donohue, general manager of buying for the Woolworths Liquor Group, who will exclusively stock the line.
Indeed, the purpose of the series is not just to sample a fine AC/DC-approved tipple, but - as the ads state - the wines are 'styled for maximum enjoyment, whilst working your way through your catalogue of AC/DC albums'. And what better way to immerse yourself in the shrieks of Hells Bells than with a dry sauvignon blanc?
But as dual aficionados of classic rock and fine wine will know, the Aussie rockers aren't the first to try their hand at the delicate art of turning grapes into metaphorical liquid gold. Stadium-packing rockers from Iron Maiden to Whitesnake have also dabbled in the winemaking world.
