L.A.'s rapping sommelier Dev the Somm, aka Devin Reed, returned to the airwaves of social media this week, with a new video for his “Wine, Wine, Wine” cover song of Jay-Z’s 2001 hit.
In search of a suitable sidekick, our wine-rhyming hero turned to comedy legend and six-time NAACP Image Award winner Cedric the Entertainer. Cedric, who appeared on Jay-Z’s 2003 Black Album, is also, like Jay-Z, a wine pro: His Setta wine label, named in tribute to his mother, Rosetta Kyles, is made by Napa’s Smith Devereux winery.
“I met Ced through our colleague Ian Devereux White at Smith Devereux winery,” Reed told Wine Spectator. “Ced is such an amazing, down-to-earth dude, and he has always just rocked with me, trusted and believed in me from the jump, and I can't express how empowering that is.”
“Getting to see a true Hollywood professional in front of the camera is amazing,” said Reed. “On the day of the shoot I got to taste his new Setta Sauvignon Blanc. It was really delicious and now it's one of my favorite summer whites!”
“Dev brings a youthful exuberance to the world of wine,” Cedric told Wine Spectator. “His experiential approach to wine tasting and education is fun and inviting and he has been a big advisor and advocate of my Setta wine. When he told me he wrote a song expressing his love for wine and wanted to do a video, I had to pull up, sip and party with my guy Devin!”
The video opens as Cedric and Reed are entering a fancy wine store in Los Angeles. Reed has a hard time keeping a straight face as Cedric inquires after “a very fine 1972 Mad Dog 20/20” and “Boone’s Farm … I believe it’s French. Les Boone’s Farm?” And the real-life wine store, Wine Merchant Beverly Hills, was happy to play along.
“We started at Wine Merchant Beverly Hills, which has one of the most vast arrays of wine that I've ever seen,” said Reed. “I was a customer and friend of their late owner, Dennis Overstreet, who passed away last year, and their staff still remains world-class.”
The on- and off-screen party then headed to Hollywood French dining destination Mr. T. “They have an unbelievable wine list, and a DJ throughout the week. Owner Guillaume Guedj is a friend. I shot him the idea and he said let's do it!”
"We actually celebrated a bit during the actual shoot!" Reed shared. "If you look closely, in the scenes of Ced and I together at the table playing cards, we're actually drinking a 1982 Château Mouton-Rothschild. That wine is mentioned in the song, so we just had to drink it. We also had some Soul of a Lion from Daou and some Setta wines."
“The entire thing was so fun,” said Reed. “Performing something that you created to the full extent was just really fun and really cool. To put some visual imagery behind the song and create my first music video was a dream come true for me.”
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