Of the myriad activities led by artists on the SS Coachella, the must-have ticket was a wine tasting hosted by James Murphy and his oenophile compatriot Justin Chearno. The wait list for this event was capped before boarding even began despite audible begging and plaintive wails from fans and wine enthusiasts once they got on the ship.

I managed to find a way into the first of two editions of this activity—which, according to the two presenters, was the first time they had ever spoken about wine in public. The Celebrity Silhouette’s wine bar was laid out with cheeses, breads, and palate cleansing snacks, and we were greeted with a taste of a lightly sparkling white wine. The 25 or so fans allowed in the room circled around Murphy and Chearno for an intimate discussion, as others gathered outside enviously.

Before things got started, I was a bit skeptical. On a major cruise ship complete with a Gucci store and duty-free liquor, I thought this was sure to be a big sales pitch. Quite the contrary—attendees were handed a pamphlet in which each winemaker was pictured over a lovingly written profile. In fact, when I tried to buy some of the wines we tasted, presenters and waitstaff alike were flummoxed and it took some doing to make it happen.

Indeed, this was a labor of love. Once Murphy started talking, it was clear that to the widely adored and imitated musician behind LCD Soundsystem, the winemakers were the rockstars. In fact, Murphy and Chearno helped the wine novices in the room comprehend their seminar with a music-industry parallel. Here’s how it breaks down:

Winemaker = Band
Wine distributor = Label
Wine = Album
Vintage = Song

Since wine can’t be tasted over the Internet, they explored the idea that wine is the new music, because you need recommendations from friends. Both presenters spoke knowledgeably about the differences between organic, biodynamic, unsulfered, and natural wines as waitstaff poured.

When one fan asked where one might buy such wines in Toronto, Murphy, full of random geographic knowledge from the tour circuit, immediately offered a wine shop recommendation. Others began quizzing him on St. Louis, Milwaukee, and other cities, and, amazingly, he could field about 75 percent of the queries off the top of his head.

Chearno described each wine in accessible language for both beginner and wine-nerd. And after tasting through half a dozen different bottles and hearing the stories of how Chearno and Murphy discovered the wines and stayed with the winemaker in France, or how they were led to this wonderful winery by a really interestingly bad bottle they had discovered, both hung out to answer questions and pose for photos. They seemed genuinely surprised by the turnout and excited to do it all again three more times before the SS Coachella wraps up its second leg at the end of the week.