One of the coolest parts of our jobs has quickly become the special collaborations we get to produce and deliver to our wine club members. We get to invite people we admire — sometimes friends of ours, sometimes new acquaintances…but always talented artists at heart — to make special, custom, one-off wines with us. This new collab is one we couldn’t be more proud of and the story of how it came about originates from the early days of NP…outside of a castle in the English countryside.

Stephen and Jason Momoa met several years ago at a Comic Con and quickly became buddies. In May of 2015, Drew and Stephen were kicking around the idea of starting a new collaboration program for NP — that brought in other fun public figures to make wine with NP — while sitting on a patio outside the Newhall Manor in Birmingham, England. Jason Momoa, unknown to Stephen and Drew, is a straight up wine guy. They pitched the concept to Jason right there on the spot and he was in whenever the time was right.

Flash forward over two years later and Drew gets a text message from Justin Wylie, one of the awesome winemakers for NP and owner of Va Piano Vineyards, that reads, “I’m in NY at dinner next to “Jason” Aquaman and he says he knows you guys??”. How Justin from Walla Walla ended up at the same table as Jason in NYC will never be known but we’re glad it got everyone refocused and ready to start the project right away. The texts started flying around between Stephen, Drew, Justin, and Jason and the plan was in place to get Jason’s own NP wine produced and ready for a June 1, 2018 release. Jason wanted a “big red” and Justin was clearly the right guy to make it.

Drew took a quick afternoon trip to Jason’s home one afternoon in late March 2018 to sample the blends and shoot hi-res digital versions of the artwork that would go on Jason’s new label. Nick Nicotera — a long-time buddy, party emcee, advisor, and supporter of NP — came along with his camera and skills needed to capture the images. A quick stop turned into about 3 hours of outdoor wine drinking and good times at Jason’s place. They parted ways with the wine and artwork locked down and in motion…

The finished product — launching on June 1 via the Wine Club — is going to be something that we’ve never done (and perhaps no other winery has done) and we can’t wait for you to see it. Our fulfillment team is in for a little bit of extra work but…well…you’ll get it when you see it. It’s the best idea ever.

Stay tuned for more announcements related to this awesome project with Jason. His specific and creative vision, attention to detail, energy, and excitement for this project is the coolest thing ever and it’s precisely why we do these collaborations. We can’t wait to share this one with the world!

(Image via: Nick Nicotera)