Celebrities Making Wine

Actors and Directors cultivating their offscreen passion.

The Oscars have arrived! Celebrities continue to capture our attention from their lavish lifestyles to their relationship woes. Let’s have a little fun and see which celebrity actors and directors are in the wine game.

Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola is a film director with a string of successful movies including The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Francis and his wife Elaine also have a string of wineries. They founded the first of four wineries on the West Coast in 1980.

The Francis Ford Coppola Winery produces a whopping 13 distinct brands of wine. The wine labels are inspired by movies, art, family, millennials, and history. You’ll find a variety of reds, whites, blends, and Rosé produced in Geyserville, California (Sonoma County). Seems they are trying to cater to every niche of wine enthusiast out there.

The Virginia Dare Winery celebrates the history and heritage of winemaking. They produce Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Voignier, red blends, and hard cider in Geyserville, California.

Domaine de Broglie is named to honor Louis de Broglie a Frenchman who won the Nobel Prize for his contributions to Quantum Mechanics. Coppola has had a lifelong interest in engineering and technology and chose to use this winery to honor those in the profession. Located in Dundee Hills, Oregon (Willamette Valley), the winery produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris.

Their fourth winery is American Pioneer Wine Growers. This winery produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under the label Bee’s Box. They pledge to provide 10% of the profits to pollinator.org a non-profit that promotes the health of pollinators.

Oscars Wine

These gold bottles of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay will be served at the Oscars and you can grab your own bottle to drink while watching the awards show too! Get your bottle here.

George Lucas

George Lucas is the director of the famous Star Wars movies. Lucas ventured into the wine business after seeing the success of his buddy, Francis Ford Coppola.

In 1991, Lucas started his winery in Marin County, California. He named it none other than – Skywalker Vineyards. Very fitting. They produce a small amount of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay which can actually be purchased on their website.

Then in 2017, Lucas purchased Chateau Margüi located in Provence, France. They produce a white wine, a red blend, and a Rosé.

Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie

The one-time Hollywood power couple purchased the Chateau Miraval estate located in the South of France in 2008. In 2012, they released Chateau Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé.

Even though the couple split a few years ago, they continue to own the winery and are actively producing wine. They just released a new branded Rosé in 2019 labeled Studio by Miraval and have plans to release a bubbly next.

Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell fell in love with wines from Burgundy, France while on vacation there with his family. The family would bike through the countryside, occasionally stopping to talk to the winemakers about their wines. Russell developed such a passion that he partnered with Ampelos Cellars in Santa Rita Hills, California. This region has the perfect Burgundian climate for the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay he became so enamored with while in France.

He produces wine under the label GoGi which is a childhood nickname. The wine has limited distribution and he has every intention of keeping it small and boutique. Bottles are named with nicknames for family members along with a simple, heartfelt dedication.

Visit GoGiWines.net and you’ll find a letter from Russell with a backstory of how he became involved with making wine. You’ll get a real sense that he is very serious about this endeavor and enjoying every back-breaking minute of it.

Sarah Jessica Parker

The New Zealand wine company, Invivio, reached out to Sarah Jessica Parker to partner on a wine with her name on it. She was initially concerned that consumers wouldn’t take the venture seriously. However, she’s working closely with the winemaking team to develop a wine they both can be proud of.

The New Zealand wine company, Invivio, reached out to Sarah Jessica Parker to partner on a wine with her name on it. She was initially concerned that consumers wouldn’t take the venture seriously. However, she’s working closely with the winemaking team to develop a wine they both can be proud of.

They released a Sauvignon Blanc in September 2019 labeled Invivio X, Sara Jessica Parker. The wine has a broad distribution, making it relatively easy to find. They plan to release a Rosé in the Spring of 2020 that will be produced using grapes from the South of France. But of course!

Wine In The Movies

Have you watched the Irishman? If you watched very closely, you may have noticed the historically accurate wine labels that were used. Or maybe you were mystified at how the CGI effects made Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro look so young. That was definitely a distraction for me.

Since the Irishman covers a few decades of history, the crew took great care to use historically accurate wine labels. Each time Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro’s character got together they drank Gabbiano Chianti. If you look closely the wine label changes with the decades. Find out more from this article in Wine Spectator.