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 Star Power Sells
Cash in With Celebrity Wines
While world-renowned celebrities may never actually set foot in your
bar or club, you can use the pulling power of their famous names and
familiar faces to seduce star-struck consumers into trying new
products. Celebrity wines, for instance, whether actually produced by
the celebrity or just bottled with labels featuring their legendary
names or faces, can at the least add some interest to your back bar
display, and with a little creative marketing, bar owners easily can
turn star power into stellar profits with these unique vintages.
VIP Vintages
Here are just a few of the wines you can use to set the stage for sales in your bar or club.
• Andretti Winery. When world famous racecar driver Mario Andretti
retired in 1994, a commemorative red wine was produced in his honor.
That sparked Andretti’s desire to create a full line of super-premium
wines. To transform his vision into reality, Andretti teamed up with
Joe Antonini, a former K-Mart CEO, in 1996 to establish the 53-acre
Andretti winery that today ships nearly 20,000 cases nationwide.
• Graceland Cellars (Elvis Presley). Signature Wines bottled the first
vintage of Elvis Presley Graceland Cellars wines in 2003. Launched as a
tribute to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Graceland was named one of the
year’s hottest new wine brands, and Elvis Wine has won several awards
in wine competitions around the country. With names such as Blue Suede
Chardonnay and Jailhouse Red Merlot, the wines obviously are a tribute
for fans of Presley as well as fans of great wine.
• Emeril’s Classics (Emeril Lagasse). World-renowned chef/restaurateur
Emeril Lagasse and Fetzer Vineyards teamed to produce Emeril’s
Classics, a line of wines from California and –– BAM! –– instant
success! Created and blended by Lagasse and Fetzer Vice President of
Winemaking Dennis Martin, the line features two wines, a red wine and a
white wine blend, both offered in selected national markets.
For more
information, call (800) 846-8637 or visit fetzer.com.
• Koala Blue Wines (Olivia Newton-John). After making a legendary name
for herself in the music field, in April 2002, Olivia Newton-John and
her friend Pat Farrar launched Koala Blue Wines. The Koala Blue
collection comprises two quintessentially Australian grape varieties,
Shiraz and Chardonnay. Through distribution by Distillerie Stock USA
Ltd., Americans have responded well to her moderately priced Koala Blue
wines and her signature line of Olivia wines.
• Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery. OK, maybe your customers wouldn’t
recognize the name of Gustave Niebaum, the original owner of the
Inglenook winery in Rutherford, Calif., in 1887, but offer them a wine
named for Francis Ford Coppola, who bought the estate in 1975, and they
won’t be able to refuse. The winery’s flagship wines, Rubicon and
Blancaneaux, as well as the Francis Coppola Diamond Series, have won
media acclaim.
• Two Paddocks Vineyard (Sam Neill).
Two Paddocks, a small family
business owned by New Zealand actor Sam Neill, produces wines
distributed in the United States by United States Pacific Vine
International of Sonoma, Calif. The vineyard produced its first Pinot
Noir in 1997 and by 1999 was producing a wine of considerable
complexity. The wine is made at the Central Otago Wine Company in
Cromwell, New Zealand.
For more information, call (707) 935-6854 or
visit
twopaddocks.com.
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