COLUMBUS — Cheap beer, chain-smoking and caffeine traditionally fuel the metalheads at rock festivals, but Sonic Temple welcomes the freaks and normies alike.
Sonic Temple’s only wine bar, Caduceus Wine Garden, is just one experience at the music festival that rips apart the dichotomy between over-indulgent fans and wine snobs.
That’s because Maynard James Keenan, the frontman of the band Tool, owns the wine garden.
Keenan is a winemaker for two Arizona wineries: Caduceus Cellars — his flagship, premium label — and Merkin Vineyards, which offers a more accessible price.
Arizona wine lovers and travelers alike enjoy his wines at his three establishments: Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria, Merkin Vineyards Old Town Scottsdale’s tasting room and Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room.
But the pop-up wine garden has been a staple since the festival’s first show as Sonic Temple (formerly Rock on the Range) in 2019.
It’s also a staple at other big music festivals, including Louder Than Life in Louisville, KY, and Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, CA.
Tool fans and wine drinkers alike enjoy the garden
Mom Kelli Backhaus and daughter Emily Moore traveled several states over to attend the four-day festival for the first time.
They are not Tool fans, but they are avid wine enjoyers, so Caduceus has been a staple booth for the duo all weekend.
“This is the only place to get wine in this whole venue,” Backhaus said.
Both were drinking non-Caduceus wines that are more mainstream labels — they appreciated not being forced to buy a $19 seven-ounce blind pour.
Backhaus said she would’ve appreciated tables and chairs in the space to sit, but otherwise she said the location was great being located near the Rock Royalty Lounge and Citadel Stage.
Greater Columbus area residents Kemper Ansel and Heather Huhn, who have attended the festival for several years, always get the chardonnay.
“We always come here. I love Tool,” Ansel said.
Ansel and Huhn said they like to come back to get a refill and chill out in the wine garden between music sets.
“We come every year and we look forward to it,” Ansel said.
Tool headlines on Sunday, which makes the wine bar extra special this year, the two said.
Tyler Gregory, who was enjoying a glass of red wine ahead of Friday’s headliner Shinedown, had no idea the wine garden was associated with Tool.
“Where does he find the time?” Gregory asked.
But his friend Justin Gene, who is a Tool fan, said he doesn’t really care about the fact that he’s drinking Keenan’s wine — he cares about the price.
“This cup of wine now costs less than a can of Bud Light,” he said.
Every wine offered at Caduceus ranges from $16-18, whereas tall-boy cans of beer range in price from $19-22.
“I used to look at these Caduceus wines and I was like, ‘That’s way too expensive.’ But nowadays, this is reasonably priced,” Gene said.
Bartender and Tool fan Jennifer Kirby, who has been working the booth all weekend, estimates about 50-60% of people who purchase wine are Tool fans.
She said many of them also purchased a bottle to have shipped to their house after trying it at the festival.
“There’s a lot of men drinking it too, surprisingly; it’s not just mostly women,” Kirby said. “It’s probably 30% men and 70% women. I’ve served a lot of customers.”
Kirby estimated she sold at least $5,000 worth of wine on Friday.
She said the money is good, but mostly she looks forward to sneaking away from the stand on Sunday evening to watch Tool live.
And if Keenan just so happened to stop by the booth to take a picture with her and other fans, she said it would be a “lifelong dream come true.”
