The Social Drinker
The celeb-branded drinks that have substance and style
The drinks industry has been using celebrity endorsements for a long time in Japan. The late, great David Bowie advertised a Japanese sake called Crystal Jun Rock in 1980. So many other celebrities followed in his footsteps that Sofia Coppola’s droll movie, Lost In Translation, centres on a lonely, aging movie star stuck in Tokyo while filming an ad for Japanese whiskey.
These days, Hollywood actors prefer to make drinks rather than endorse them. It is not hard to see why. George Clooney and two friends invested $600,000 each in a tequila called Casamigos in 2013 and sold it for an extraordinary $1bn four years later. Even Swooney Clooney would have to star in quite a few films to make that sort of money.
Casamigos tequila is difficult to find here, but new rosés, named after several other popular celebrities known for their charm and looks, have recently hit the Irish market. The first is a French wine called Kylie Minogue Rosé, which has sold half-a-million bottles since it was launched last summer to celebrate the eponymous singer’s 52nd birthday. Made from a somewhat unusual blend that is 80pc Carignan and 20pc Cabernet Sauvignon, it sells for €12.99 in Tesco and SuperValu. Like most of Kylie’s songs, it is a big hit — easy-going but hardly a masterpiece.
Another hit is a very drinkable New
Zealand Sauvignon Blanc named after Sarah Jessica Parker and selling in the same shops for €17.70. Not everybody warmed to her character Carrie Bradshaw in the 1990s, and increasing numbers of people appear to have their doubts about plans for a reboot of Sex and the City, but there is no doubting her popularity back in the day and her lasting appeal. Whatever you think about SJP, the wine she has put her name to is excellent. It won a gold medal at the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon Blanc Competition last year and it is well worth a try, even if you are put off by the sometime Donegal resident’s endorsement.
A final celebrity rosé available in Irish shops these days is west Cork native Graham Norton’s Own Sparkling Frizzante Rosé, pictured left, which sells for €12, and is the fifth addition to the Graham Norton’s range of still and sparkling wines.
This Italian wine is about as bubbly as Norton himself, and is made with the Glera grape used to make Prosecco. Like both Kylie’s and SJP’s labels, it is much better than celebritydoubters might expect and well worth a try.