Gallo launches Martha Stewart range September 24, 2007
Kate Rosen
US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has turned her attention to wine with a new partnership with E&J Gallo.
The domestic expert, who in late 2004 served 5 months prison on charges related to insider share dealing, is teaming up with the Gallo Family to release 15,000 cases of 'Martha Stewart Vintage' from next year.
Stewart will be putting her name to three wines - the 2006 Sonoma County Chardonnay, 2005 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Sonoma County Merlot.
Stewart and the Gallo family have a long friendship. Stewart and winemaker Gina Gallo have worked together in the past and Gallo Wines have regularly advertised in her magazines.
In 2000 Gina Gallo appeared alongside Stewart on her TV show, pairing Gallo wines with cheese and pasta dishes.
More recently, Stewart donated US$10,000 dollars to the Gallo Center for the Arts, the US$47m (US$10m of which comes from Gallo) performing arts complex that opened this month in Modesto, California.
Stewart said the joint venture is 'a natural outgrowth' of their friendship, 'based on our mutual passion for food, wine and entertaining.'
The Martha Stewart brand has not suffered since the 67-year-old was released from prison in 2005, with a slew of new endorsement deals in the pipeline.
She has launched her own range of home goods for Macy's, formed a partnership with KB Homes to build Martha Stewart Houses, and has developed a line of food products for Costco.
In the first year, the wines will be sold for US$15 per bottle in six US Cities where the Martha Stewart brand is particularly strong: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon.
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Who will be next to take advantage of wine's increasing popularity for their own financial gain? O.J. Simpson? Donald Trump? Wilf Krutzmann, DVM, CSW, Malahat, BC
Does any wine drinkr really believe that some celebrity slapping their name on a bottle is anything other than a bit of crass marketing? We already have Greg Norman wine, Francis Coppola wine, Dan Ackroyd wine and soon to arrive Wayne Gretzky wine. The sooner we see an end to this perverse phenomenon the better. Paul Wilk-Toronto Canada
If the name of a celebrity on a wine bottle is going to make more people drink more wine then it's all good. Martha Stewart is in the food business, she's trusted, she's an icon, people will feel very comfortable drinking a wine she has recommended.
Michael Olivier, South Africa
Does the Martha Stewart label read 'will benefit from five to eight'? I'm Australian and our industry was built on convict wine so this is nothing new to me however I do wonder if it will be released ahead of schedule? Other label ideas: Martha Merlot, for the wine that has lost it's appeal, Penal Pinot, Vincarceration,
Toby Bensimon
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Who will be next to take advantage of wine's increasing popularity for their own financial gain? O.J. Simpson? Donald Trump? Wilf Krutzmann, DVM, CSW, Malahat, BC
