Celebrities love attaching their names to wine. Francis Ford Coppola, Lorraine Bracco and Wayne Gretzy are in the biz. As you just read here yesterday, Pierre Robert's smiling mug will be on labels from Chaddsford.
Now comes Mike Schmidt, the Phillies legend, doing a charity deal.
No. 20 and two other members of the 500-home run club -- Ernie Banks and Eddie Murray -- will have their names on wine labels, starting in about two months. (One of the driving forces behind this 500 Home Run Club promotion is Liz Banks, Ernie's wife.)
All proceeds will go to charity, and "Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel" will
help the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Eos Estate Winery of Paso Robles, Calif., will label The 500 Club wines.
Expected retail is $17, says Charity Wines, the outfit setting this up.
Wine broker John Corcoran says he is working with the LCB to get the wine into Pennsylvania's State Stores by May 15. He says some New Jersey wine shops also will sell it.
Schmidt is expected to announce the deal officially at a May 2 news conference at Citizens Bank Park.