Gary Barlow has sparked ridicule from fans by announcing his hopes for another hit – this time by launching his very own wine.
The singer, 50, who boasts of a 30-year passion for wine, has revealed he hopes to appeal to the masses with his budget tipple, which will be available for just £8 in Morrisons supermarkets from Saturday.
Gary revealed he intends to appeal to the masses with crowd-pleasing wine from Spain, simply named Gary Barlow Organic, which is complete with a fitting piano key label.
‘Grape that!’ Gary Barlow has sparked ridicule from fans by announcing his hopes for another hit – this time by launching his very own wine
Announcing the range, Barlow said: ‘After months of learning about the process and tasting different blends, I’m very proud to now launch my own range of organic wines from Spain.’
The red, made from tempranillo and syrah grapes, is described as having a ‘rich, smooth’ flavour ‘rendolent of bright, autumnal evenings with layers of damson, cocoa and rosemary’, finishing on ‘a bright note of fresh cranberries’.
Meanwhile, Barlow’s white – a blend of verdejo and viura grapes – is ‘overflowing with uplifting aromas of green apple and lime blossom’, along with lemon zest, pear and melon.
Delicious: The singer, who boasts of a 30-year passion for wine, has revealed he hopes to appeal to the masses with his budget tipple, which will be available for just £8
Announcement: Gary revealed he intends to appeal to the masses with crowd-pleasing wine from Spain , simply named Gary Barlow Organic
Barlow worked with winemaker Paul Schaafsma, of Benchmark Drinks, who has previously created wines with Sir Ian Botham and Kylie Minogue.
Having previously told fans that he had an ‘exciting duet’ in the works, Gary’s announcement quickly sparked ridicule from fans, with many questioning why he didn’t call the range ‘Grape That.’
Several fans were also quick to joke that the singer hadn’t even clicked his pen in the promotional image, despite the fact he was supposed to be ‘taking notes’ while testing the wine.
One posted: ‘Gary Barlow must be really excited to launch his new range of wines. I bet he has a semillion.’
Another added: ‘Gary Barlow naming his wine company after himself is the most Gary Barlow thing you can do. This is from a man who once did a duet with himself.’
A third also posted: ‘Can’t believe Gary Barlow launched his own range of wine and didn’t call it Grape That.’
Amusing: Having previously told fans that he had an ‘exciting duet’ in the works, Gary’s announcement quickly sparked ridicule from fans
Of course Gary is not the first celebrity to delve into the world of wine-making, with pop star Kylie Minogue launching her own line of rosé in May 2020.
The range has been a huge hit, with the star expanding the range to include Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc wines earlier this year.
England cricket legend Ian Botham has also made millions through his own range of wines, which he first launched in 2001, and the sportsman has since branched out to release a line of gin.
However, not all stars have been gushing of their own wine, with Cliff Richard once unknowingly branding his range as ‘rubbish and insipid’ during a blind taste test with Gordon Ramsay.
The trend of celebrities launching their own has been one that’s earned mixed reviews, with Ian’s ‘entry-level white’ described as as not especially complex but with an ‘appealing youthful fruitiness’ by The Drinks Business.
The Times’ wine critic Jane MacQuitty also offered her thoughts on Sting’s Tenuta il Palagio estate wines writing ‘For a beer-drinking Geordie, whose first taste of wine was ‘a bottle of Mateus Rosé, with spaghetti out of a tin, Sting has produced a run of really rather good Tuscan wines.’
Donald Trump’s Meritage was described as ‘grape jelly with alcohol’, adding that it had a ‘terrible, fumy, alcoholic nose,’ by Vanity Fair, concluding: ‘If I served you that on an airline you’d be mad.’
MacQuitty also wrote of Kylie’s range: ‘ I can confirm that the wine within this pot-bellied, clear glass bottle is a coarse, surly, sweet-yet-bitter disappointment.’