"Celebrity" Wines

The number of celebrities (both living and dead) who are putting their names and images on wine is growing rapidly. Wine writers are divided as to whether these are serious wines or simply marketing gimmicks, but recent wine tastings show how much more seriously they are being taken. Prices can be high, fans being willing to pay premium rates for the "genuine" bottle.

Here are some of the celebrities lending their name and image to a wine:

• The Australian golfer, Greg Norman, has wineries in the Limestone Coast of Australia.
• The golfer, Ernie Els, produces wines at Stellenbosch.
• Olivia Newton John, actress and singer, with her Koala Blue collection.
• Sir Cliff Richard has wineries in the Algarve which produce the Vida Nova brand sold in many UK supermarkets.
• Sam Neill, the film actor, produces Pinot wines under the Two Paddocks label in the Central Otago region of his native New Zealand.
• An Italian Bob Dylan wine, a blend of Montepulciano and Merlot from Le Terrazze in a bottle signed by the singer/songwriter, bears the name of Dylan's 1974 album "Planet Waves".
• Perhaps the most well known in wine circles are the wines of the film director, Francis Ford Coppola (at the Niebaum-Coppola Winery) in California's Napa Valley. Many of these wines are frequently highly rated by wine writers.

There are also a number of "dead" famous names whose estates are making considerable income from licencing their name and image. These include:

• Most famously, the Marilyn Monroe and Norma Jean wines.
• Signature Wines' Graceland Cellars, a line of Elvis Presley brand wines.
• Lead guitarist and composer for the Jerry Garcia Band and the Grateful Dead, J. Garcia Wines of Sonoma County.

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