2010 Duckhorn Decoy Red Wine commemorating the Giants’ first-ever World Championship in San Francisco
In the midst of the Fall Classic, with the Giants quite possibly on their way to their second World Series title in three years, I went on a hunt for baseball-themed wines. I’ve long been a fan of fun wine labels, but I’ve yet to find a label that uses a baseball theme the way a growing number of wineries use animals or bicycles or nature to add life to their labels.
The idea actually came to mind a few weeks ago, when I came across Duckhorn’s Decoy Wines release commemorating the Giants’ 2010 championship right about when I decided to launch this blog. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye out for more like this – whether they be commemorating a special event of championship or just celebrating the National Pastime. So far, I’ve all but struck out…except for these few examples.
The Ray Tanner Series was distributed by Southern Wine and Spirits of South Carolina, with proceeds benefiting USC baseball and golf programs.
I did find news of a nice release in South Carolina known as the Ray Tanner Series, honoring the University of South Carolina’s back-to-back NCAA Baseball Championships in 2010 and 2011. A two-bottle collection was sold at South Carolina retailers last spring, with proceeds going to support the University’s baseball and golf programs. I’m not a Gamecock fan, but I’ll be hunting for these to add to my collection. I hope they did well enough to give some other schools the idea of partnering with wineries on this type of a fundraising idea.
2007 Napa Valley Matt Holliday Red Wine, sales of which benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation in St. Louis.
Similarly, a Matt Holliday-themed wine was released earlier this year, honoring the St. Louyis Cardinals’ star left fielder following the Cardinals’ 2011 World Championship, with proceeds benefiting the St. Louis Chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation. This 2007 Napa Valley red blend, originally priced at $50 per bottle with limited quantities of autographed ones selling at $75, is now priced at $25.00 per bottle. It appears to still be available through The Wine & Cheese Place in St. Louis and online.
A few of the many players represented in the Longball Cellars line.
A variety of baseball player-themed novelty wines were produced in 2007-08 and some are still available from EventWines.com, bottled under the name Longball Cellars. Current players like Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz and all-time greats like Brooks Robinson and Ernie Banks are among those with labels in this line, which are priced anywhere from modestly to blow them outta here prices (like $5.00 for the Kevin Youkilis bottle). Portions of the sales of these bottles benefit the charities of choice for these players, either their own foundations or causes or, in the case of Brooks Robinson for example, the Baltimore Community Foundation.
Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel
There’s a 500 Home Run Club line in which the player’s career home run total is featured prominently as the wine name (i.e. Mike Schmidt’s wine is 548, Ernie Banks’s is 512, etc.), while Brooks Robinson’s wine is simply Brooks Robinson Chardonnay. The current players, on the other hand, take on more of a comic book feel with hokey names like “Sauvignyoouuk Blanc” and “ChardonClay,” but for fans of a team like the Red Sox, which has several current and former players in the Longball line, this is a fun and affordable way to add to a team memorabilia display.
Tom Seaver with one of his wines, GTS Cabernet Sauvignon, as pictured in a feature on HauteLiving.com last March.
As opposed to the novelty wines produced by Longball Cellars for great causes, more serious wine drinkers may very well prefer some elite Napa region wines made by former ballplayers. The most well-known of these is Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, who has moved from his playing career to a long broadcasting career and now to full-time winery operator. His Seaver Vineyards have been producing higher-end reds since 2008 (2005 vintage). While the website gives little indication that Seaver was ever anything but a winemaker, the bottle design does give a hint, with a very subtle but distinctive gold baseball stitch design included on the neck and top of the bottle. Seaver’s wines (called GTS, the initials of George Thomas Seaver himself) have scored in the 90s, and they aren’t cheap, but for a lifelong baseball fan and a wine lover, adding a bottle to the collection was a no-brainer. The 2009 vintage ships shortly, and I’ll be receiving my first bottle from one of my childhood heroes sometime in mid-November.
Red Stitch Wine is owned by a partnership including former major leaguers Dave Roberts and Rich Aurilia.
One other Napa-area winery, even newer, is run by a partnership including two former major leaguers (and ex-Giants) of note, Dave Roberts and Rich Aurilia. Their winery, aptly named Red Stitch, features a red swooshing ‘S’ on a dramatic black background, again a subtle but distinctive play on the baseball connection. Like Seaver, Red Stitch wines have scored very well and are produced in limited quantities, so they are priced accordingly. Their latest release is shipping shortly, and I’m looking forward to giving it a try.
With the boom in popularity of wine, winery tours, tasting rooms, and winemaking throughout the country in recent years, and with new wineries popping up all over producing an ever-expanding range of wine label artwork and themes, it will be fun to see if additional sports-theme wines hit the market. While I’m not a fan of mass-production, low-end novelty wines (though the ones mentioned above do benefit charitable causes), they can still be fun collectibles. Personally, I’m hoping to find a winery that jumps into the fray with some classic baseball scenes and themes, which would seem to be a natural given the vintage look and feel of other popular labels already out there, like Petite Petit, Cycles Gladiator, and Red Bicyclette. Time will tell…
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Special wine commemorates USC baseball championships
