Wine Brand, Concerts, New Music

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Just like her music, Norah Jones is incredibly low-key (despite having 10 Grammys and 53 million records sold). “I kind of fly under the radar,” she tells Rolling Stone. Now, Jones is bottling that easygoing philosophy with This Life, a new wine brand launched under French winery Maison Wessman.

Named after the song on her album Pick Me Up Off the Floor, This Life currently offers a “Rosé melody” and a “Sparkling ovation,” both showcasing the bright, summery flavors of the South of France.

This Life is Jones’ first brand partnership in her decades-long career. In other words, it’s a true passion project, and one that she’s actively involved with — even though she’s admittedly new to winemaking. “I don’t know a lot about wine, in a way that I can talk about it and sound very knowledgeable, but I really know what I like and what I don’t like. I am picky,” says Jones. “I like something easy to drink, not too acidic, smooth, not sweet. Those are my sort of basic things.”

Maison Wessman founder and owner Róbert Wessman also wanted Jones to be an active part of the brand, instead of a name-only partner. “We wanted this [partnership] to be a natural process, so it’s not advertising. She is very active in blending the wine, so it’s not just taking a product in order to be a part of it. We agreed that her name would not be on the bottle, and the wine has to stand for itself.”

The partnership between Jones and Wessman started organically. Jones says she tasted a bottle of Wessman’s wine at BottleRock, heard the label was interested in collaborating, and said yes for a simple reason: She liked the wine.

“The name was the hardest part. We tried a lot of different song titles, and then we Frenched them up a little bit, and it was kind of weird,” says Jones. “It’s literally like naming a band. Everything’s taken. So we found an obscure song of mine [This Life] that, like nobody knows.”

Besides starting a wine brand, Jones has been busy touring and recording new music. She’s on a string of Scandinavian dates right now (“I want everyone to stay cool,” she says). You might also bump into Jones in the crowd; she recently hit up one of Billie Eilish’s tour stops. “It was the first time I’d actually been to a big pop concert, which was funny. I’m a dork,” says Jones. “I prefer a rowdy crowd. I like a crowd where they keep the bar open and people are having fun. It’s a good energy exchange.”

Jones seems to be absorbing some of that louder energy for her new music. “I think I’ve changed, but I try not to think about it, not trying to. It’s like you just grow and sort of change. Yeah, my tastes have changed.” The singer’s latest song is “Carry Me Away,” produced by Leon Michels. “It’s really trippy. I mean, it’s really [Michels’] project. I played whirly and I just sang, and then he took it and did all kinds of crazy stuff to it. So it sounds cool. I love it,” she says.