Like His Wine, Boz Scaggs Improves With Age

Like His Wine, Boz Scaggs Improves With Age

GRAMMY winner and multiple platinum-selling US musician Boz Scaggs seems to be getting better with age, much like a fine wine.

And when it comes to fine wines, Scaggs, 69, knows his clarets from his Bordeaux.

He and wife Dominique moved to the Napa Valley outside San Francisco in 1996 and planted some grape vines. Their hobby soon became a business and Scaggs Vineyard now produces about 400 cases of premium red wine a year.

Scaggs – who hit the big time with his 1975 album Silk Degrees, which reached No. 2 on the US charts and featured such memorable tracks as Lowdown and Lido Shuffle – arrived in Hobart on Tuesday for his first ever Tasmanian show tonight and is intent on exploring the wine scene here.

“I’m particularly interested because your wines are the style I like. There’s not quite so much sunshine, so the wines are more austere and balanced than the wines that come from California or mainland Australia. These have a little more finesse,” he said.

A few bottles of Tassie’s finest will be making their way back to the US with him, but Scaggs has also found Hobart much to his liking.

“It’s a very special place,” he said. “It reminds me a lot of where I live, and maybe that’s why I like it so much. I love being right on the water and the air is beautiful.

“It’s just a gem and I hope it can stay this way forever.”

Playing all his classics plus songs from his latest album Memphis, Scaggs and Australian blues man Russell Morris – who is launching his new album Van Diemen’s Land – perform at Wrest Point from 8pm.

Posted: Friday 11 April 2014


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