The names of many winemakers often go unsung, hidden behind the names of the wines they have crafted. Others are celebrities of the wine world, and their work is sought after by true aficionados. And then there are those wines that bear the name of more “conventional” celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment. In many cases, these celebrities are merely allowing their image and name to be licensed as a marketing tool; in others, the art of winemaking is as much a passion for them as the arts for which they are better known. Here is a short list of some of these celebrities and the wines they either produce or promote.
Film & Television
Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now): Coppola has long been as respected in wine circles as he is in film circles, producing several well-regarded wines from the Niebaum-Coppola winery in Napa Valley.
Olivia Newton-John (actress/singer, Grease): Since 1983, Newton-John and her partner Pat Farrar have produced a number of Australian table wines under the Koala Blue label.
Sam Neill (actor, Jurassic Park): Neill, a native New Zealander, produces wines under the Two Paddocks label in his home country.
Gerard Depardieu (actor, Cyrano de Bergerac): One of France’s most celebrated film actors has also been a winemaker for over 30 years, having held ventures in a number of wine regions in the French countryside.
Music
Mick Fleetwood: The legendary Fleetwood Mac drummer has been the proprietor and winemaker of the Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar since 2001.
Sting: Former frontman for The Police, and an incredibly popular solo performer in his own right, Sting turned his passion for organic farming into a multi-acre estate in Tuscany, which as of 2007 has been producing red wines.
Maynard James Keenan: The lead singer for hard rock/metal bands Tool and A Perfect Circle, Keenan is somewhat notorious among his fans for centering many aspects of his music career and touring schedule around the wine harvest at his own Caduceus winery in Sedona, Arizona.
Sports
Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer, Ernie Els: These three golfers, each of whom have carved their own noteworthy careers on the professional circuit, have also applied their focus and drive to wineries in their native countries. Norman, an Australian, has wine holdings both in his homeland and in the United States. Palmer—who, interestingly, is also the namesake of a non-alcoholic beverage—has his own winery in the Napa Valley. Els, a South African, produces wines in the Stellenbosch region.
Although one probably shouldn’t base a serious wine selection simply by the dazzling name behind it, it can certainly be fun to try the wines of various celebrities such as those above, and see if their abilities with grapevines match their abilities with their other arts.
