A group of TV and sporting celebrities are to form the driving force behind a new wine brand.

Neil Morrissey, Martin Kemp and Frankie Dettori are among the famous names who have agreed to take part in a TV series which will be the springboard for the Simply Famous portfolio.

Filming for the Wine Takes Off series is scheduled to start next month and is the brainchild of importer Wine Capital Partnerships which has recruited Western Wines to source and supply the wines.

In each episode, one of the celebrities will be seen on location talking about the wine to which they will give their name. Four Old World wines, priced at £5.99 each, will make up the initial portfolio, featuring a photo of one of the celebrities on the label.

Rod Smith, Simply Famous’ brand manager at Wine Capital Partnerships, said the project had the ability to establish the brand as one of the biggest forces in its price range.

“Celebrity endorsement is a mechanic which hasn’t really been tried with wine. We hope the fact that consumers have the reassurance of a celebrity will encourage them to try a more expensive wine.”

He said the celebrities would have a “certain amount” of input about the bottle they wished to endorse, with wines from Italy, Spain and France already planned.

The company is in talks with TV stations in a bid to find a home for the TV show.

The Co-operative Group’s marketing manager for wine, Mike Veitch, said: “Having a celebrity endorsement is certainly a pull factor but if the wine is not good we would not have it in our range.”
Rosie Davenport