Celebrity wine is not a new thing and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. among the “celebs” with their name attached to a wine are people from sport (golfers Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Greg Norman…), the music business (Cliff Richard, Madonna, Sting…) and the film industry (Jolie-Pitt, Sam Neill, Francis Ford Coppola).
The degree of involvement varies significantly; some of them are simply adding their name to the label of a wine made entirely by someone else, whereas others such as Francis Ford Coppola come from a family with a tradition of winemaking and are directly involved. Sam Neill’s Central Otago wines have been recognised for their intrinsic excellence and are aimed at serious wine aficionados with regards to their price, style and availability.
Flamboyant chat show host Graham Norton was approached by New Zealand newcomers Invivo in 2011 to see if he’d like to try their wines, and he liked them so much that he ended up producing his own varietal Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with them from the 2014 vintage onwards.
To that were soon added a New Zealand Rosé (Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc grapes from Marlborough (50%), Gisborne (30%), Hawke’s Bay (20%)) and a South Australian Shiraz. Last year the Sauvignon and the Rosé accounted for 10% of all Kiwi wines sold in Ireland. Norton isn’t involved in the vineyards but he does have the final call on the blend – even single varietal wines are usually a blend of different sources of fruit – so he does more than just add his name to the label.
How have the wines become so successful? In my view there are a number of factors:
- The wine categories themselves are well known and popular (there’s no Graham Norton Franciacorta, for example)
- Each wine is made in a very approachable, drinkable style to appeal to a large number of people
- There’s a good match between the populism of Norton’s TV programmes and the style of the wines – unpretentious and accessible
The latest addition to the portfolio is “Graham Norton’s Own Prosecco DOC Extra Dry”. It follows the same principles as the previous wines – Prosecco is the most popular type of sparkling wine in the UK and Ireland, and it’s made in a medium-dry style (confusingly labelled Extra Dry, but that won’t put many people off).
As the (much bigger) UK market is more of a target than Ireland, the decision to go for a fully sparkling Spumante style rather than Frizzante makes sense – the wire cage over cork closure projects more quality than the latter’s bit of string. It does make the wine a little more expensive in Ireland than it needed to be due to the double duty attached to Spumante (as is the case for Champagne, Cava, Crémant etc) but the retail price of €17.99 at Tesco Ireland should still see it flying off the shelves!
What will come next? My guess is either a Pinot Grigio or an Argentinian Malbec…
I know we should all focus just on whether the wine tastes nice, but I can’t help being turned right off by these sleb wines. Nothing against Graham Norton, of course. Anyway, we know people like me are as far from the target market as you can get.
My first thought when seeing a celebrity-endorsed product (wine or otherwise) is to wonder if there’s an inherent price premium.
So you see the next wine as Pinot Grigio or Malbec and not, for example, a Pinot Noir from New Zealand, simply based on the “popular demand”? Interesting…
Entirely guess work on my part, but yes. Although Invivo are based in NZ they chose a South Australian Shiraz as their first red rather than a local Pinot Noir. A GN Pinot Grigio could be from NZ, Australia or even Italy.
And I’ve since learned that the next product will be a Gin!
Here you go! Follow the trends! 🙂
It was interesting when I worked in Majestic Wines that Graham Norton’s Sauvignon Blanc wasn’t selling as well. Neither was Miravel. I was working at a more exclusive Majestic and there clearly wasn’t a market there.
That makes sense to me 👍