What Sting, the Trumps and Hong Kong stars Carina Lau and Bernice Liu all have in common
A passion for wine also links singers Lady Gaga and Pink, NBA all-star Yao Ming and Hong Kong actress Bernice Liu, all celebrities who own a vineyard or label
The Trumps own one in Virginia. Estranged Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie maintain joint custody of Miraval in France. Popstar Pink is cultivating organic vines in Santa Barbara and singer Lady Gaga is launching her own range. Owning a winery or wine label is a superstar status symbol.
Celebrities in Asia have also woken to the potential of attaching themselves to a wine label. Hong Kong movie star Carina Lau launched her online wine and champagne brand in China in 2015. The nightclub owner and cosmetics, fashion and jewellery maven now boasts Bordeaux and Moutard champagne in her range of luxury products. Lau followed in the steps of actress Vicki Zhao Wei, who purchased Château Monlot in 2011 to bring more Bordeaux to China’s burgeoning wine scene.
Liu loves learning about wine as much as she enjoys sharing it. “Making wine is my ‘passion project’,” she says. “It contributes to charities I feel need help in gaining exposure and attention.” The actress has donated nearly HK$1 million to charity from her wine sales.
The celebrity wine trend has even reached the country of Georgia, where famous former basketballer Vladimir Boisa is helping reinvigorate the tradition of creating rkatsiteli wine in 100-year-old qvevris, under his Boisa brand. Boisa’s wine is exported to Austria and Slovenia and sold locally in Georgia, where Boisa plans to open a cellar door in Kakheti to boost tourist interest in Georgia’s ancient winemaking technology.