Here's a new twist on celebrity wine. Paul Burrell, whose claim to fame is being the late Princess Diana's former butler has released a line of wines. The Royal Butler Wines are an Australian Chardonnay, a Shiraz and sparkling rose which sell for from $12 to $18. Apparently they are flying off the shelves at the Publix stores in Florida. The wines were created by winemaker Philip John at Hunter Valley winery Hungerford Hill and there are 100,000 cases of the 2006 vintage. Burrell is also planning a line of California wines called Royal Butler Jewels. Burrell has an entire line of Royal Butler products selling in places like the Home Shopping Network, has published a series of books about his life with the royal family and appeared on the UK TV reality show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
The Decanter article also references the fact that Seamus Quigley of Vintage Wine Management, Burrell's US-based global sales and marketing agency is working on a wine project with Bono. Now that might be a wine worth checking out. As for the butler, I think I'll pass.