Already a busy husband, father, and social change advocate, not to mention being at the top of his game as a singer-songwriter, the ever-multitasking 12-time Grammy winner John Legend took on yet another task in 2015 when he teamed up with acclaimed winemaker Jean-Charles Boisset and released the first of what is now a varied wine selection under the LVE (Legend Vineyard Exclusive) label.
Developing and introducing a new line of wines into an already crowded marketplace where tastes and trends run fickle can be daunting even with highly recognizable names like those of Legend and Boisset. But after adding seasoned winemaker Stephanie Putnam to the collaboration, Legend’s label seemed to have come up with a recipe for success, with offerings now ranging from a $20 bottle of sparkling rosé to a fine Napa Brut.
Legend isn’t the only celeb that’s jumped into the winemaking business. Post Malone, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Dave Matthews, Mary J. Blige, and Sarah Jessica Parker have their own labels or are collaborating with an established one. Though some, such as Legend and Matthews, may simply partner with an experienced vintner, other celebrities own a winery’s real estate; the list includes Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, with their French estate Chateau Miraval. Gordon Sumner, best known as Sting, and his wife, Trudie Styler, turned their Italian summer home, Il Palagio, into a winery and events center. Besides turning its luscious grapes into a bounty of salable wine, Il Palagio also produces oil from homegrown olives, as well as honey.
If winemaking celebs have one thing in common, it may be their dedication to the pursuit of excellence. Celebrity endorsement, through lending their name and giving a recommendation to a product, belongs to a bygone era and it’s something that savvy contemporary consumers are aware of, says Gwendolyn Osborn, director of education at wine.com. “Now, people look at their art”—such as music or acting—“and they look at how well they perform their art,” Osborn says of the celebs, explaining the attitude shift.
Dedicated artists who continuously strive for excellence in their craft are likely to take the task of winemaking “just as seriously as their art. Usually, they want the best of the best,” says Osborn. And usually, they can easily recognize what constitutes the best, as their financial means allows exposure to the finer things in life—wine being one of them. This is why most celebrities who get into the winemaking business are very hands-on regarding a wine’s creation and ingredients. “Most celebrities get into [winemaking] because of a real love for wine,” Osborn notes. “To them, it’s all about producing the highest-quality wines,”
Accomplishing this usually requires a hefty financial investment, something that A-listers and other heavy hitters can readily provide. “They have the money to invest in it,” says Osborn, who points out that the expected return on such an investment is sometimes looked at as a way to create retirement income. Even so, most if not all the famous-name labels offer pricing options to suit a variety of consumer budgets, typically starting at around $20 or $25 a bottle. It’s not unusual to find the occasional half-bottle for less, such as the Miraval Rosé at wine.com selling for just under $18. Naturally, there are also special occasion-worthy price points, like LVE’s aforementioned Brut at $75.
Although many Sonoma and Napa Valley wineries are open to the public, offering tours, tastings, and onsite sales, Dave Matthews, who previously owned a Virginia vineyard, and his current wine-making collaborator, Sean McKenzie, are not among those with open doors. They are, however, dedicated to perfecting their Dreaming Tree wines. This diligence seems to be paying off, with Dreaming Tree earning some prestigious accolades including tying with Sting for best-tasting white in a 2020 celebrity wine battle. “It’s something to be proud of,” states Matthews on Dreaming Tree’s website, summing up the motivation behind the pair’s ongoing pursuit of perfection.
Movie icon Francis Ford Coppola has not only opened his newest winery—his second in California wine country—to the public, but has taken the concept one step further; “He wanted a place that was family-oriented,” Osborn says. A legend in his own time as a director, producer, and writer of classic movies such as “Apocalypse Now,” “The Rainmaker,” and “The Godfather” and its two sequels, it may come as a surprise to learn that Coppola has been making wine almost as long as he has been making movies.
As it turns out, winemaking is in his Italian blood, Osborn explains, with a family history of winemaking patriarchs that go back at least several generations. Put this together with traditional family-oriented Italian culture, and you can understand the ensuing “wonderland,” as Coppola is said to describe it, that is his newest winery—a destination filled with eateries and splash-ready swimming pools that welcome children along with their parents.
Osborn describes how Coppola was inspired to make his newest venue a family affair after watching two children scolded and shooed away from playing in a fountain at another establishment that, like so many others, was geared toward adults. Coppola set out to change that with the new winery that, like his first, bears his name. And it appears to be enthusiastically applauded by visitors, as indicated by the number of glowing online reviews. This strong sense of family is also evident in the finished product, as wines are affectionately named after family members, including Sofia, a rosé bearing his daughter’s name.
Sting and Matthews use their own song titles as names of their selections, and they’re aware of the ingredients and procedures that go into the wine—and a lot of what is kept out. As Osborn explains, a wine is much more than just an interesting label, catchy name, or even its initial taste.
“Consumers want to know, where’s this wine coming from? Is it coming from a factory? And what’s in it?” she asks, before listing commonly added ingredients such as color enhancers, preservatives, and even sugar. Often, consumers have an aversion or reaction to some of these additives, and headaches are an all-too-common side effect.
The question “What’s in my wine?” inspired Cameron Diaz and business partner Katherine Power to come up with Avaline, a line of what they call “clean” wines produced from organic grapes without extra ingredients, and ingredient transparency right on the label. It took at least a few years of hands-on research by the pair, who traveled to Europe to seek out the type of wine they wanted to produce. But after establishing their own label more than a year ago with products that meet their high standards, they’ve noticed other wineries following suit.
“It’s so wonderful to see the movement and the adoption of this kind of wine that we were able to bring to market,” said Power in a recent livestream for wine.com. Like other celebrity wines, Avaline’s prices are strikingly reasonable considering that it’s made from organic grapes. Most bottles sell on their website for $24 to $28. “The Essentials” is a threesome featuring a red, a rosé, and a white selling at $72, while a trio of rosés goes for $74.
