According to the 2023 Silicon Valley State of the US Wine Industry report, wine has a younger drinker problem. American millennials and gen Z’ers are drinking much less of the stuff, which would seem to be true in the UK, too. I imagine that’s down to a combination of factors, including competition from cheaper, more nattily packaged drinks that target young people explicitly, as well as the increased preference for low- and no-alcohol drinks (as many as 28% of young adults in the UK, for example, do not drink).
Step in celebrity wines. Or, rather, a growing branch of them. Unlike Jay-Z, who bought a whole wine estate and now makes preposterously priced champagne under the Armand de Brignac name, an increasing number of other celebrities are endorsing wines at the lower end of the market. In many ways, it’s a no-brainer – Kylie Minogue’s portfolio, for example, had consumers doing the Loco-Motion by its second year, having cornered all of one-sixth of the UK sparkling wine market, and includes glossily presented examples of popular pours, including a couple of proseccos and French rosés of varying qualities. I did enjoy her Côtes de Provence Rosé – gently fruity, creamy and saline in equal measure, it will please fans of Whispering Angel, or indeed of Miraval, the wine estate co-owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Kylie’s empire is the brainchild of Benchmark Drinks, which has brought six celebrity wine brands to the UK market in the past decade, among them those from Gordon Ramsay, Ian Botham and Graham Norton, who has just released the 11th vintage of his sauvignon blanc, made in collaboration with New Zealand wine-makers Invivo. While Norton’s name goes a long way in selling his wine, I’m not sure it was the best idea to film this year’s blending session: “Some years, it’s so easy,” he says, “I never want to taste those wines again … Maybe they’ve got better over the years!” Likewise Sarah Jessica Parker, who also makes wines with Invivo and Benchmark and targets Sex and the City fans with promotional photos of her with a bottle on the stoop of a New York brownstone, is visibly surprised when she tries her own sauvignon, declaring, “It’s really not bad.”
Snoop Dogg’s Cali range, meanwhile, is similarly dubious, not least because he has been fairly explicit about the fact that he doesn’t drink them. A marketing campaign in which bottles of the red were given to a group of Manchester rap artists to collaborate on a filmed cypher says it all, though. Wine can be cool, kids. Apart from the rosé, which tastes like Fruit-tella, Snoop’s are fine, so long as big, fruit-forward new world wines are your thing.
A million love songs (or thereabouts) later, Gary Barlow also now has a line in wine. The man who scored my childhood seems genuinely into his wines made in central Spain and the western Cape. I like that they’re all certified organic, which still feels unusual in mass-market wine, and his Castillian blend of indigenous viura and verdejo grapes is crisp, simple and ideally suited to summer drinking with or without tapas.
Does the world need more bland, mass-market wines? Tasting some of these felt a bit public service, but others, such as Barlow’s, felt legit. Plus, if he encourages young adults to drink affordable organic wine that pairs well with food, who am I to judge?
Four celebrity wines I’d happily drink
Gary Barlow Organic Spanish White £9.50 Ocado, 12%. Not as chart-topping as his music, but easygoing and food-friendly. Great with tapas.
Alex James Britpop £25 Laithwaites, 11.5%. Toasty, champagne-style Dorset sparkling from Blur’s bassist. Fabulous with cheese.
Porte Noire Champagne Petite Porte Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs by Idris Elba £52 Harvey Nicholls, 12%. Notes of tangy citrus, toasted almonds and croissant: hard to fault.
Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé £19 Sainsbury’s, 13%. Their split maybe have been messy, but Jolie and Pitt made a great rosé, in the zingy, creamy style we all want in summer.
