Porn Wine

That's right. You read the title correctly. Porn wine. You've heard of ice wine, but never "vice wine", right? Groan. If you subscribed to the NY Times you may have read the article about porn star Savanna Samson, whose claim to porn fame is her gyrations in the X-rated "New Devil in Miss Jones." Samson (aka Natalie Oliveros) has launched a signature brand of Italian wine labeled Sogno Uno ("Dream One").

Now, you want to hear something interesting? Wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. loves it! Yes. The Robert M. Parker, wine critic gave the wine 90 points! Parker claims it is "luscious and oppulent." Yes Mr. Parker, but what about the wine?

Now, how does one go from porn star to vintner? Samson met Daniel Oliveros, a Manhattan wine merchant, at Scores. Scores is a famous strip joint where she was working as a dancer. On their first date Mr. Oliveros invited her to a wine dinner with wine friends and colleagues. That dinner began their relationship but also Samson's education about wine

On a vacation to Tuscany last year, she got the idea about making wine. Through her husband, she met Roberto Cipresso, a noted Italian winemaker and consultant. Samson asked Cipresso to experiment with blends of local grapes to achieve a wine to her taste. While tasting she dismissed Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon as boring, and eventually decided on Cesanese, an ancient and little heralded grape found mostly in the Lazio region. The Italian varietal is delicate, but with a spicy taste. Often ruby red in color and made into sweeter wines. Also in the blend is Sangiovese (Chianti) and Montepulciano, the aromatic grape from the Tuscan hills. Only 490 cases of Sogno Uno was made and will retail for $38 a bottle.

Samson just returned from Italy after tasting potential blends for a white wine, which will be labled "Sogno Due." She suggested that potential customers approach her wine the way she approaches some newfangled sexual position with strangers on the set of one of her movies.

Okay, there has got to be a joke in here somewhere about cork screws, but I won't touch that one. And I know this post had nothing to do with the area's wine, but I thought it could be a lesson for any young woman in the area who is thinking about going into porn. If she succeeds or doesn't succeed in her craft, at least she still has the opportunity to become a vintner. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?