10 Best Songs With The Word 'Wine' In The Title

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Wine has found its way into rock, pop, soul, and blues songs for decades because it can mean celebration, escape, romance, regret, or all four at once. Some artists use it as a metaphor, while others simply put the bottle right in the middle of the story. This list moves from The Cardigans and Gov’t Mule to Heart, Def Leppard, Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, Neil Diamond, War, and Elton John. These ten songs prove that one glass can lead songwriters in a lot of different directions.

# 10 – I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer – The Cardigans

The Cardigans opened this list perfectly with one of the best song titles of the 2000s. “I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer” was released in 2005 as the first single from Super Extra Gravity and marked a darker, rougher direction for the Swedish band. Nina Persson, Peter Svensson, and Nathan Larson wrote the song, with Tore Johansson producing. The single reached number three in Sweden, but the relationship inside the lyric sounds a lot less successful than the record was at home. There is humor in the title, but underneath it is the sound of two people who clearly know how to get on each other’s nerves.

Read More: Top 10 Songs By The Cardigans

# 9 – Tastes Like Wine – Gov’t Mule

Gov’t Mule’s “Tastes Like Wine” appeared on the band’s 2000 album Life Before Insanity, one of the final studio albums to feature founding bassist Allen Woody before his death later that year. Warren Haynes wrote the song, and his vocal and guitar carry a weary, reflective mood that fits the title perfectly. Woody plays electric upright bass on the track, while Matt Abts anchors the trio on drums. The song is far more intimate than some of Gov’t Mule’s heavier work, but it still has that deep blues feeling running underneath everything. This is wine music for the end of the night, when the room is quiet and your thoughts are not.

# 8 – Red Wine & Whiskey – Katrina & The Waves

Katrina & The Waves opened their 1985 Capitol album with “Red Wine and Whiskey,” written by guitarist Kimberley Rew. The record arrived during the same period that “Walking on Sunshine” was turning the band into an international success, but this track has a rougher edge and a much less sunny title. Katrina Leskanich’s voice gives the song plenty of bite while the band keeps the arrangement lean and direct. The song had already existed in an earlier form before the Capitol album, then was re-recorded for the band’s major-label breakthrough. It is a good reminder that Katrina & The Waves had more going on than the one huge hit everybody remembers.

Read More: Top 10 Katrina And The Waves Songs

# 7 – Bring The Wine – Paul Anka

Paul Anka opened his 1974 album Anka with “Bring the Wine,” a song he co-wrote with arranger and composer Johnny Harris. By this point Anka had already lived several different musical lives, from teenage pop star to established songwriter and adult contemporary hitmaker. “Bring the Wine” fits the latter period, built around intimacy rather than the dramatic energy of his early records. The title makes wine part of the invitation, setting a warm late-night mood before the album moves into bigger hits such as “(You’re) Having My Baby.” It is a quiet song, but it earns its place here because sometimes wine songs are supposed to whisper instead of shout.

Read More: Top 10 Paul Anka Songs

# 6 – White Lightning And Wine – Heart

Heart’s “White Lightning and Wine” comes from the band’s debut album Dreamboat Annie, recorded in Vancouver and first released in Canada in 1975 before its U.S. breakthrough followed in 1976. Ann and Nancy Wilson wrote the song, and Mike Flicker produced the recording. Ann’s vocal has the force that would soon make her one of the great rock singers of the decade, while the band attacks the track with much more grit than the album’s quieter moments. The song sits comfortably beside the harder side of early Heart and sounds like a band that already knew exactly what it wanted to be. White lightning and wine may be a questionable combination in real life, but it worked pretty well for Heart.

Read More: 10 Most Rocking Heart Songs

# 5 – Me And My Wine – Def Leppard

Def Leppard’s “Me and My Wine” comes from the High ‘n’ Dry era, but it was not part of the original 1981 album track list. The original version appeared as a B-side to “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” while a remixed version was added to the 1984 reissue of High ‘n’ Dry. Rick Savage, Steve Clark, and Joe Elliott wrote the song, and the recording captures the rougher young Def Leppard before Pyromania and Hysteria turned them into global superstars. The title fits the band’s early image so perfectly that it almost sounds like a mission statement. The later music video makes the whole thing even more gloriously 1980s.

Read More: Top 10 Def Leppard Love Songs

# 4 – Summer Wine – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood made a series of duet recordings that still sound completely unlike anybody else. No one sounded like Nancy and Lee. Hazlewood’s deep, almost conversational voice fits perfectly beside Nancy’s cool uptown attitude on “Summer Wine,” which he wrote and first recorded before their duet became the famous version. Their recording was issued in late 1966 and reached number forty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. The story sounds romantic at first, but by the end the mysterious woman has taken the man’s silver spurs, money, and dignity, which makes this one of the more dangerous glasses of wine on the list.

Read More: Top 10 Nancy Sinatra Songs

# 3 – Red Red Wine – Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond wrote and originally recorded “Red Red Wine” for his 1967 album Just for You, years before UB40 turned it into an international reggae-pop smash. Diamond’s recording is much more intimate, with wine serving as the narrator’s attempt to dull the memory of a lost love. The single version reached number sixty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. UB40 eventually took its version to number one in the United States in 1988, which introduced the song to an entirely new generation. I love the later hit too, but Diamond’s original sounds like the guy is actually sitting there alone with the bottle.

# 2 – Spill the Wine – Eric Burdon & War

“Spill the Wine” introduced a lot of listeners to the strange chemistry between Eric Burdon and War in 1970. The song appeared on Eric Burdon Declares “War” and mixed Burdon’s surreal spoken-sung vocal with the band’s blend of funk, Latin rhythms, rock, and soul. Produced by Jerry Goldstein, the single climbed to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the group’s first major hit with Burdon. It sounds loose and dreamlike, but the groove underneath it is incredibly precise. More than half a century later, “Spill the Wine” still sounds like nothing else that was on the radio around it.

Read More: Top 10 Songs From The Band War

# 1 – Elderberry Wine – Elton John

Elton John’s “Elderberry Wine” comes from his 1973 album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, although the song had already appeared as the B-side of “Crocodile Rock” in late 1972. Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and produced by Gus Dudgeon, the track features Elton with Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray, Davey Johnstone, and a brass section arranged by Dudgeon. The music sounds upbeat and almost celebratory, while the lyric is really about a man missing the wife who used to make his elderberry wine. That contrast between the bright arrangement and the lonely story is what makes the song work. It is a deep Elton John cut, a great rocker, and an easy number-one choice for this list.