Skip to main content

The Walking Reds: New AR App Pits You Against the Walkers on these ‘Walking Dead’ Wines

walking dead wine
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Remember when we told you about how you could interact with criminals while drinking wine (outside of sitting in a dive bar and having the nerve to order a glass of Pinot Grigio, which we’re pretty sure would might also put you in contact with unsavory individuals)? Well, this wine label is going to make that one look like a kid’s birthday party (if that birthday party took place in the Wild, Wild West).

Now, thanks to two new wines brought to you by The Last Wine Company — a partnership between Skybound Entertainment and Treasury Wine Estates — you can feel like a character in The Walking Dead.

Yeah, that’s right. You can now interact with zombies.

Walking Dead Living Wine Labels app

Building on the success of the 19 Crimes wine labels, Living Wine Labels — a company that has taken augmented reality to the next, slightly tipsy level — has just come out with two new bottles, both tied to The Walking Dead. Whereas before you could learn the stories of the criminal who populated the labels of the 19 Crimes wines, now you can interact with the stars of the hit comic book/AMC show.

On Blood Red Blend, you’ll see Sheriff Rick Grimes. If you launch the app and point it at Grimes, he will fight off walkers, all while you stand idly by in the wine aisle, dreaming about what you would do if you were in Grimes’ situation.

On The Walking Dead Cabernet Sauvignon, you’ll see Grimes’ main problem in life (other than mental stability in an increasingly volatile world): a horde of zombies. When pointing the app at the zombies, they break out of the label onto the screen. If you’re really looking to live the life of your favorite The Walking Dead characters, put the two bottles side-by-side. When you do, Grimes will then fight the zombies.

walking dead wines bottle
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Beyond the AR component, the corks used for the wines are collectibles. You’ll find corks emblazoned with barbed wire, walkers’ hands, and heads of the undead (who wouldn’t want to bring some undead head to your next dinner party?)

For some real fun, though, we recommend buying a few bottles of each, drinking them, then trying the augmented reality. Nothing will show your true colors (whatever the color of a G-D hero is, obviously) like pounding half a case of wine and fighting off a horde of zombies.

Living Wine Labels is working to expand their line beyond these initial offerings and hopes to have labels from Chateau St. Jean, Beringer Brothers, and Gentleman’s Collection all interactive in the coming months.

To interact with The Walking Dead wine labels (or 19 Crimes), you can download the Living Wine Label app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Both wines are available in the U.S. for around $19.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
The 10 best rosé wines that everyone should drink
It's time to finally try rosé
Rose wine glasses

Rosé rules -- no ifs, ands, or buts. You’ve most definitely seen dudes drinking rosé, with the pink wine sold in forties. Chances are, you’ve heard the term “brosé” at least once or twice in your life. Heck, people are cooking with rosé. Can you believe that? It's a sweet wine worth talking about.

All this talk about the drink prompted us to go on a quest to find the most exceptional ones this rosé season. With plenty of great options in the market, we chose to narrow down our list to these best rosé wines for your next hot date, guys' night, or solo Netflix binge. Still reluctant to try this magical wine? We listed seven reasons why you should start drinking rosé.
Best rosé wines

Read more
How to start your own home bar: the essential spirits
Home Bar

When you start getting into cocktails, drinking them is only half the fun -- making them is part of the appeal too. If you start making your own drinks at home, you'll soon find that you can often create better or more interesting drinks than what you're served in most bars. And even better, making drinks for other people is a great way to try out new combinations, learn about spirits, and make your friends and family happy too.

However, moving beyond the simple spirit plus mixer style of drinks which most people make at home and into the world of cocktails means that you'll need a wider array of spirits on hand than you might be used to. It can take some time and research to build up a well stocked bar, and choosing high quality spirits isn't a cheap endeavor. It's worth it, though, for the pleasure of being able to try out classic cocktail recipes and experiment with making up your own creations too.

Read more
You’re overlooking the most important ingredient in your cocktail
Steel Hibiscus cocktail.

When you list off the most important parts of making a good cocktail your mind likely goes immediately to good ingredients: quality spirits, freshly squeezed citrus juices, and well-matched mixers. You might also consider the importance of using the right tools, like getting a proper mixing glass so your stirred drinks can be properly incorporated, or a good strainer so that there aren't little shards of ice in your cocktails. And then there are the fun additions like elaborate garnishes, bitters, or home-made syrups which can add a personal touch to your drinks.
All of those things are important, absolutely. However I think there's one ingredient that can make or break a good cocktail, and it's something many drinkers don't ever stop to consider. It's the humble but vital ingredient of ice.

Why ice is so important
In mixed drinks like a gin and tonic or a screwdriver, ice is added to the drink primarily to chill it down to a pleasing temperature. That's a topic we'll come back to. But in cocktails which are shaken or stirred, ice is far more important than that. Cocktails are typically composed of between around 20 to 30 percent water, and this water comes from the ice used in the preparation process.
When you stir ingredients in a mixing glass or shake them in a shaker with ice, you are chipping away small pieces of the ice so that it dissolves and blends with your other ingredients. You might imagine that water doesn't make much of a difference to taste, being tasteless itself. But it's vital in opening up the flavors of other ingredients. That's why many whiskey drinkers like to add a dash of water to their whiskey when they drink it neat.
If you're ever in doubt of how important water is to cocktails, it's worth trying to make a drink with no ice. Even if you mix up the ideal ratios for a drink that you love and put it into the freezer so that it gets to the chilled temperature that you usually enjoy it at, if you sip it you'll find that your drink tastes harsh, unbalanced, and incomplete. Even for special room temperature cocktails like those designed to be drunk from a flask, you'll generally find water being added at a rate of around 30%.
When you make your cocktails you should be sure to stir for a long time – around 30 seconds is a good start – or to shake for a good while too – I typically do around 12 to 15 seconds – in order to melt enough ice to get plenty of water into your cocktail. Despite what you might imagine, this won't make the cocktail taste watery but will rather make the flavors stand out more as well as often improving the mouthfeel of the drink. A good rule of thumb is to mix or shake until the vessel is cold to the touch. That means your ingredients are sufficiently incorporated with the ice.

Read more