When porn star Savanna Samson decided to get into the wine business, she went straight to the top - hiring Robert Cipresso, who makes wine for the Vatican, to make a blend of Italian red varieties from the 2004 vintage that's being marketed using the Savanna name and a label of Samson posing in a diaphanous gown. When asked why, she reportedly said "I wanted to do something that my parents could be proud of."
Well, if she achieved that goal, her parents presumably will be even more proud now that wine guru Robert Parker has awarded her debut wine a tentative score of 90 to 91 points:
Robert Parker met Samson at a pre-launch of her wine, and was 'impressed' with her 'good palate', she said. According to Parker, her outfit for the occasion was 'provocative', but he added, 'Trust me, I didn't add any points for Ms Samson's personal presentation.'
Samson is aiming the wine at the premium end of the market ? only 400 cases of the 2004 vintage have been produced. 'It's not a wine for the masses,' she told decanter.com. It will retail at US$35-40 in Denmark, France, Belgium and Italy, and the US. It is not available in the UK, and will not be marketed through Samson's extensive porn channels. (Link)The mind boggles.
On his first Christmas as Pope, Benedict XVI gave Vatican employees gifts that included bottles of wine. Despite Cipresso's Vatican connections, somehow I doubt whether Ms. Samson's wines will be on the Vatican's holiday shopping list next Christmas.
