As interest in food and drink continues to skyrocket, the phenomenon has kickstarted an unusual offshoot — extreme food and drink hobbies. How else to explain the explosion of celebrity-backed wine and spirits labels in recent years? It’s not your everyday wine aficionado who has the kind of cash necessary for a wine label stashed away.
Legendary director Frances Ford Coppola may have been one of the first big show business names to get into winemaking (he purchased his first vineyard in 1975), but since then myriad other celebrities have taken up an interest.
This year alone has seen a remarkable number of celebrity-backed wine and spirits labels, from a tequila by rapper Xzhibit to Drew Barrymore’s award-winning Pinot Grigio.