Some celebrities lend their names to a winery for a special one-time wine production. John Elway with winemakers Rob Mondavi Jr and Mari Coyle Depardieu, who owns wineries in several countries across the globe, even has his passport listing his occupation as vigneron. Other celebrities, such as French actor Gérard Depardieu, are very active in both the production and business dealings of the winery. While it could be described as a "winery", technically Mike Ditka Wines is a "wine brand" owned by Ditka, who participates in blending and tasting trials. The wine is produced in partnership at the physical winemaking facilities of the Mendocino Wine Company. An example of this is the brand Mike Ditka Wines, owned by former American football coach Mike Ditka. Similarly, the celebrity may own their own "wine brand" that is produced with their collaborating winery instead of owning a physical winery or wine estate itself. While Sbragia oversees most of the viticultural and winemaking tasks, Montana is involved in deciding on the overall "vision" of the wine and participates in tasting and blending trials. An example of this is retired American football player Joe Montana, who partnered with longtime Beringer winemaker Ed Sbragia to make their joint venture wine Montagia. Nearly all of them partner, in some form of collaboration, with a winery or winemaker who is already established in the industry. Types of celebrity involvement Īmerican musician Dave Matthews owns a winery in Virginia.Ĭelebrities have different degrees of involvement in their wineries and vineyards. In 2007, Nielsen research of supermarket wine purchases showed that sales of celebrity wines were up 19% over previous years. Today celebrity-owned wineries can be lucrative business endeavors. While some celebrities, such as the American actors Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, British association football star David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham, own vineyards and wine estates solely for personal use, some celebrities leverage their name recognition as a selling tool in the wine industry. Some celebrities enter the wine industry simply because they can. Others like the challenge of a new enterprise. Some, such as the British singer Cliff Richard, have been lifelong wine enthusiasts and enter the wine industry in order to do something that they enjoy. Some celebrities, such as the Italian-American director Francis Ford Coppola, come from a family with a long history of winemaking. Starting a winery or vineyard, as with nearly any business, can offer some tax benefits. There are many reasons that celebrities gravitate to the world of wine. Usually celebrities have a large amount of wealth accumulated, which makes the significant investment of opening a winery or vineyard negligible. In ancient Greek and Roman times, the leading philosophers, playwrights, politicians and generals of the day often owned vineyards for personal use. The trend of celebrities owning wineries and vineyards is not a recent phenomenon, though it has certainly garnered more attention in today's Information Age. New Zealand actor Sam Neill owns a winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand.
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