Kix Brooks: Country’s Wine Connoisseur

Long before he was one-half of Brooks & Dunn and the host of the American Country Countdown, Kix Brooks was a fan of fermented grapes. 

Written by Erin Duvall
Kix Brooks: Country’s Wine Connoisseur

Long before he was one-half of Brooks & Dunn and the host of the American Country Countdown, Kix Brooks was a fan of fermented grapes. Presently, he’s part owner of Arrington Vineyards, a winery and vineyard located South of Nashville, TN, that is quickly becoming a Music City favorite. The venture is the product of his early love of vino and an education from superstars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

“My love of wine started in college,” he tells Sounds Like Nashville. “I had bottle of Mateus that ended up with a candle in it, like everyone else. Then somewhere around the ’90s, Tim and Faith gave [my wife] Barbara and I a great Christmas present, it was four bottles of wine every month. Two reds and two whites from every country all over the world you could think of, at least 12. That included some of the great wines around the world. We realized the wine we had been drinking wasn’t very good and this was really good.”

Those four bottles a month turned into a lifelong interest for the singer. “It became a hobby for me, learning was good and what wasn’t and where wines came from,” he admits. “Eventually, a friend of mine from church had a little test orchard and we were making some really bad wine and found this guy Kip Summers, who is now my partner at Arrington, and the head winemaker there, and we started our own winery.”

Kip handles the hard part, the wine, while Kix is a big fan of the tasting. “By most standards I’m not very hands on,” Kix says. “I’m not actually making the wine but I very much enjoy the education and the process. Along with Kip, we have two great winemakers and several guys that help them. Every day they’re there making wine. We just got done with what’s called ‘the crush.’ We get grapes in from California, Washington State and we’re also picking our own grapes, and the grapes are coming in and being crushed into juice and being fermented right now. This is a time of year that you’re actually picking the grapes and making the wine. The rest of the year, the wine goes into barrels and red wine is setup for two years in barrels. There’s a lot of work that is still going on but this is the mad scientist time of the year.”

But fans interested in a wine tasting could very possibly find Kix behind the bar. “I’m out there two or three times a week but I’m involved in all aspects of the business, just not the wine-making,” Kix adds. “I like going to tasting room and seeing how people are enjoying it. A lot of days, I do the tastings. I get behind the bar and pull wines for people and tell them about the wines and hear what they have to say about the wines.”

Arrington Vineyards has quickly become a favorite for Nashvillians and tourists alike. The property includes a main tasting room as well as fields of picnic tables perfect for everything from a Sunday in the vines to bachelorette parties. It’s a gathering place with wine, what more could you want? Music!

“We just developed the property next door, 20-acres, where we have what we call Music in the Vines,” he explains. “We have jazz in the main part of the vineyard. Now we’re going to have bluegrass at the barn on the weekends. Next year, we’ll have music both places.”

Don’t ask him to pick his favorite wine, though, but it’s just as tough as choosing that favorite child. “I honestly like everything we’re making,” he says. “If we don’t like it, we don’t make it. The KB, I really like. I drink a lot of Shiraz. I really like the Russell red.”

However, he’s happy to tell you all about your favorite wine. “The Antebellum is the hottest thing we have right now,” he explains. “It’s a blend of Chambourcin, which we grow at Arrington, then we blend that with Cabernet and then it goes into French oak barrels for two years and then it goes into used Tennessee Whiskey barrels for seven months and that’s where it gets its outrageous smoky flavor. “

You can find more about the Antebellum vintage and Arrington Vineyard at arringtonvineyards.com.