Gordon Ramsay lends his name to a Bordeaux wine

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is lending his name to a wine for the first time - for free.

Ramsay is allowing Château Bauduc, in Entre Deux Mers, Bordeaux, to use the signature ‘Gordon Ramsay Selection’ across the property’s whole range.

‘This is to celebrate 10 vintages on the trot as the house wine in the restaurants,’ Ramsay said in the latest edition of Château Bauduc’s newsletter.

‘My sommeliers swear by Bauduc, even if the accountants swear every time someone orders a bottle instead of Chablis or Pétrus.’

Ramsay recently had a run of negative publicity over his personal and financial affairs, and his top restaurant in Chelsea’s Royal Hospital Road did not appear in the 2009 edition of the world’s top 100 restaurants listed in Restaurant Magazine.

But Bauduc owner Gavin Quinney is happy to associate his château with Ramsay, and points to the chef’s magnanimity.

‘We are not paying Gordon any royalties for this – neither for the signature nor for the link from his website,’ said Quinney.

‘Our wine has earned this label from consistent hard work and quality. If Gordon had wanted to earn a quick buck, why not approach the big guys?’

Château Bauduc is poured at Gordon Ramsay’s three-star Michelin restaurant in London, and at Rick Stein’s fish restaurant in Padstow. It also featured in the BBC’s Oz and James’s Big Wine Adventure.

Written by Jane Anson