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Pop stars' wine diets, a winery-naming contest in Washington state, biker bottles, and a blast from a winemaker's funky past

Posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007

• Forget counting points or cutting carbs. "Get the Party Started" singer Pink has discovered a new diet that's much more fun: Drinking tons of wine. "I run 60 minutes a day, I do an hour of yoga and then I drink a lot of wine—I think that helps, I honestly do," the pop star told World Entertainment News Network. No word on which varietal Pink prefers, but she might be onto something. After all, resveratrol, found in the skins of red wine grapes, boosts the endurance of mice--and perhaps pop stars, too, fueling their monster workouts. But what makes this diet really special is that it's apparently reversible. Victoria "Posh" Beckham, former Spice Girl and wife of soon-to-be LA Galaxy soccer star David Beckham, is said to be guzzling wine to bulk up her size 0 frame, amid speculation of an eating disorder. "It's the reason she has a drink," a source told Closer magazine. "If she has a wine or two then she'll have an appetite like everyone gets when they're on a night out and drinking." Let's just hope it's not the Liebfraumilch the Beckhams served at their World Cup party in 2005.

• It's not easy launching a new winery. You have to find land or a grower, nab a good winemaker, hire hardworking people and hope that consumers actually like the taste of your wine. But the hardest task of all? Naming the winery. Just ask Jeff Schackman, winemaker and cofounder of Washington Wine Co., which is opening a new 12,000-square-foot winery in Woodinville, Wash., next year. Despite having nailed down all the specifics, from grape varietals to sources, Schackman and his partners, John Patterson and Monika Helendi, just "can't come up with [a name] on their own," Schackman said. So they're running a winery-naming contest through the end of June, the details of which can be found at www.washingtonwinecompany.com. At press time, 250 submissions had been entered, including Majestic Timber, Deceptively Simple, Full Boat, Just Rewards and Sassy Kat Winery. "It will be tough deciding on a name," said Patterson. "We have to live with this choice for a long time." Funny, Unfiltered remembers saying the same thing just before our last trip to the tattoo parlor …

Good-looking, but can it drive you home if you've had a few too many?

• Speaking of tattoos, either the biker crowd is becoming softer, or the wine-drinking crowd is getting edgier. We've reported before about wine marketing that attempts to appeal to the hip crowd—including tattoo art and connecting rock stars and rappers with wine. This time, motorcycle enthusiasts are being targeted. First, Four Vines introduced a Paso Robles Zinfandel nicknamed "The Biker," and now the labels for an entire line of wines from V-Twin Vineyards have been emblazoned with skulls and a flaming v-twin engine. This pimp-my-wine mentality of biker images seems inevitable—if rock stars, rappers, prison guards and race car drivers are part of the wine drinking community, cavemen and pirates may soon become the only tough guys not sipping Chardonnay. As their core clientele begin to transition from "hip" to "hip replacement," motorcycle companies are scrambling to appeal to a broader demographic, including younger adults, women and minorities. Hey, isn’t the wine industry trying to do the same thing?

And here we see Mike Grgich doing his best Dom DeLuise impression.

• Not many Napa Valley vintners can pull off the John Travolta à la Saturday Night Fever look, but some lucky California folks will soon be checking out Mike Grgich and his daughter, Violet, doing just that. On the invitations mailed out for their upcoming party for Grgich Hills' 30th anniversary, Mike and Violet are seen boogying 1970s style (it's as scary as it is funny). The party promises to be a groovy-licious affair, with guests squeezed into their best 1970s attire, and music from the Bay area's top '70s cover band, the Cheeseballs (because everyone knows that wine goes well with cheese … balls). Grgich and partners Austin Hills and Mary Lee Strebl broke ground for their winery in Rutherford on July 4, 1977, and now it seems Grgich found an excuse to resurrect the outfit he wore that day. Want to see the funked-up image for yourself? Thanks to those pesky copyright laws, you'll just have to figure out a way to get on the guest list.

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