Frankie Moreno launches his own alcohol company Angel Town Spirits
Las Vegas singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Frankie Moreno isn’t letting the grass, er, grapes grow under his feet since he upped stakes at Planet Hollywood Showroom with his residency “Under the Influence.” Not content with his own bestselling Frankie Moreno vodka at Lee’s Liquor Stores and Total Wine, Frankie has started his own alcohol company called Angel Town Spirits.
“We ultimately want to do several different products, but we started with the vodka. We also have online distribution to about 40 states,” Frankie told me. “The vodka started moving so fast that the stores and our distributor, Breakthru Beverage, asked what else we can put in, so we went to wines.”
Frankie is launching a California red blend, Diva, named after one of his singles, which will be in stores by Thanksgiving. He also has a Tuscan red from Italy, an Impruneta Chianti called 88 Keys. His vineyard is just 2 miles from the city of Chianti. Frankie took a recent trip to the Italian countryside to check on the barrels and shipments across the Atlantic.
Frankie told me: “I’m 100 percent involved in the process from start to finish, from the product to the packaging to the selling. It’s not just something I stuck my name on. We wanted to get the different products from places important to me and that have something to do with me. For instance, I’m from California, so it makes sense to do a California wine. I grew up there and wanted to add that to the arsenal.
“Being Italian, I’m in Italy twice a year, so ya gotta do an Italian wine! Five or six years ago, my brothers and I were there on a songwriting trip for a new album. We stumbled on this little bed-and-breakfast place called Bella Vista on our Vespas while in Siena. I met the owner, Matteo Becucci, and he had the best wine I ever tasted. So we partnered up with him to bring it over to Las Vegas. It’s quite special.
“The vodka is made right here in our own Las Vegas distillery. We are home grown because this is my home. It’s a neutral grain vodka five times distilled. I want to have that be the go-to for the typical Las Vegas drink, the martini. Several restaurants are bringing it in now.
“It’s been fun doing all this and ties in nicely with my career since music and liquor usually go hand-in-hand. I figure why not make my own. I already make my own music. When someone buys a ticket to any of my shows, it’s like having someone come over to the house and get a full look into what I do. To me music is the soul, and liquor is the spirit.”
