It's no secret to fans of the band that Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer, is a true jack of all trades. As well as fronting one of the best-known heavy metal bands on the planet, he is an airline pilot, has a PhD in History and also produces beer and wine. After beer, a business he already owned, Dickinson signs his first “Made in Portugal” wine, made by Van Zeller Wine Collection (ex - Barão de Vilar, Vinhos S.A.). This partnership is motivated and supported by Ehrmanns Wines, the producer's distributor in the UK.

Like his beer brand (Trooper), this wine is also inspired by one of the singles from Iron Maiden's latest album, released in 2021. In Darkest Hour, Bruce Dickinson pays a kind of tribute to the British resistance during World War II and, in particular, to the figure of Winston Churchill. The story of the wine is simpler - symbolically, a Douro DOC from the 2021 harvest was chosen to create this red (a “darkest red”, as Bruce likes to joke), from two of the region's traditional grape varieties, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz. For Álvaro van Zeller, executive winemaker at Van Zeller Wine Collection, this challenge made him “step out of his comfort zone, not only because it's a partnership with a lot of international projection for the Douro, which honors us greatly, but also because Iron Maiden were very important to my generation. Wine and music have always been a perfect combination and now there are new chords for the Douro, those of heavy metal.” And if the wine is a classic of the region, the image is another melody. The strong colors and bold images of Eddie the Head, the mascot and signature of Iron Maiden and the heavy metal universe, fill the entire envelope of the bottle, a kind of poster that you can keep or collect. The wine, which will be available at the band's official store and points of sale around the world, will cost an average of around 14 euros.