There's a new NBA star joining the team of basketball vintners: Eight-time All-Star Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers has signed on as the newest celebrity to create a Signature Series label with OneHope Wine. Paul joins NFL Hall of Famer John Elway, future NFL Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd, 12-time MLB All-Star Mike Piazza, 3-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and Hootie and the Blowfish's Darius Rucker as the newest OneHope celebrity vintner. Paul's OneHope Pinot Noir Napa Valley Signature Series Reserve 2011 was made in collaboration with consulting winemaker Rob Mondavi Jr. and is available for $60 a bottle. Fifty percent of the profits from each bottle will go to the Chris Paul Family Foundation, which promotes education, health, sports and social responsibility. While the English were busy politely golf-clapping at last week’s British Open, the U.S. hosted a concurrent golf tournament, the slightly less reverent and decidedly more all-American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.

More than 30 professional athletes, entertainers and television personalities descended upon Lake Tahoe to participate in the 26th-annual charity event. Former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder triumphantly represented the baseball contingent, which also included Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux, by winning the overall championship. Not wanting the celebrities to have their feelings hurt, Korbel, a returning tournament sponsor, offered the other participants a chance for glory with a hole-in-one competition and a celebrity spray-off. Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, who heads his family’s line of Duck Commander Wines, beat out Golf Channel host Lisa Cornwell to become the hole-in-one champion by driving his ball within 12 feet and 1 inch from the target. For his efforts, the Korbel Toast Life Foundation donated $5,000 to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a non-profit that rehabilitates local wildlife, in his honor.In the spray-off, the stars showcased their best sparkling wine celebration skills as they popped the corks on bottles of Korbel.

Former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, one of many football stars including John Elway, Aaron Rodgers and Emmitt Smith, launched his cork the furthest, a whopping 87 feet, also winning $5,000 for the charity of his choice. And although athletes won the majority of the three events, the participating entertainers made sure to leave their mark on the crowd by doing what they do best. During the light-hearted challenges, comedians Larry the Cable Guy and Rob Riggle cracked jokes and former Fresh Prince of Bel Air star Alfonso Ribeiro treated fans to his trademark dance move, “The Carlton.” best wine in large bottlesJustin Timberlake joined the dance party, busting out his own charming moves and giving spectators a good-natured sparkling wine shower after launching his cork.wine and food chicago Last week, the Yealands Wine Group initiated a recall of New Zealand stock of two of their labels, 3 Stones and Clearwater Cove, due to a packaging default that may cause shards of glass to become displaced upon opening. wine and beer festival 2016

This is the second wine recall Unfiltered has reported on in recent months. Last month, South African producer Distell recalled batches of wine from British and Irish supermarkets, also because of the potential for glass particles in the wine. Three wines were involved in this past week’s recall: 2014 3 Stones Sauvignon Blanc, 2015 Pinot Gris, and 2015 Clearwater Cove Pinot Gris. All 3 Stones Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris with the batch code of L5148, and Clearwater Cove Pinot Gris with the batch code L5147 and L5148 should not be opened or consumed. high end wine furnitureCustomers can find batch codes on the back label near the barcode.wine red makeup This is a setback for Yealands, one of New Zealand's largest wine producers, who recently brought on an investor to help with expansion. best wine chart

While there have been no reports of injury or illness, a spokesperson for 3 Stones and Clearwater Cove said, “The recall is a precautionary measure and to eliminate the potential risk of public harm.” It comes as no surprise to Unfiltered that the notorious penal colony Australia houses wine criminals, and three of them struck last week in Clare (of the Clare Valley region in South Australia known for Riesling and Shiraz). The plonkers made off with some 160 cases after breaking into a shed. According to police, most of that comprises 15 vintages’ worth of Cardinham Estate. The getaway vehicle is thought to be a Ford Fairlane hauling a trailer, and the thieves were caught on closed-circuit television, making this a less sophisticated job than Bordeaux's recently apprehended expansive crime ring. /top-50-amazon-wines/ on this server. Your technical support key is: 3697-88f9-1756-6707Details: No promo code required. Click "Get the deal" to be taken to this offer on ONEHOPE.

Numerous companies are invested in the "ethical dollar" today. It's become one of many ways to separate themselves from competitors and target consumers' inherent desire to 'spend morally.' Another way is lableing products as 'organic,' or even the perpetually ambiguous 'natural'—a term that denotes nothing more than a foliage-esque color scheme on the packaging. Amongst all these marketing schemes are companies founded on genuine, noble missions. One Hope, an LA-based wine and coffee company, is one of those companies. Founded in 2009 by Jake Kloberdanz and six of his former co-workers at Gallo, One Hope was based on the notion that a company can establish a continuous, thriving business around core charitable values. "I thought it was kind of gimmicky that these companies would do a one month (charitable) campaign and then it would be over," said Kloberdanz, "and I thought, from a business perspective we should do it longer, and from a personal perspective we should do a lot more."

One Hope initiated this perspective by supporting breast cancer research, pediatric AIDS prevention, and autism research. So far, it's donated over $1 million to over 200 thoroughly vetted charities. They believe this, as well as their quality juice of course, is the most vital element of their model. "Millennials are extremely socially aware," notes Kloberdanz, 31, "and with the wine industry transitioning into focusing on a younger audience we felt like this was the perfect time to launch a product like this." They started five years ago with 168 cases in a Public Storage unit, retail space in the back of their cars and, as Kloberdanz notes, "just enough passion to make it happen, and just enough naivety to believe we could do it on our own." A year later, at a trade event, they were approached by a man named Michael. He told them he really loved their business and was interested in working with them. They took his card, turned it over, and read the word that would soon transform their business: Mondavi.

A little background might be neccessary. Mondavi is arguably the most famous and influential last name in the American wine industry. Robert Mondavi Sr. was largely responsible for elevating the global status of Californian wines, particularly those of Napa Valley. His name is woven into the history of the industry, and carries more weight than any other in the Golden State. Michael Mondavi is Robert's eldest son, and was the chief winemaker when his father was building his dynasty in the '60s. They, of course joined forces. Michael's son Robert Mondavi Jr. took the reigns on the winemaking and assisted in grape sourcing and blending. He developed the wine, and Jake and his associates focused on everything else. Today, One Hope is in the top 300 wineries in the United States and just secured distribution deals with Whole Foods, Intercontinental Hotel Group, and Virgin Airways. Like many thriving companies, One Hope identified the 28-40 single female demographic as the largest target market for lifestyle products.

As a result, they've based much of their charitable causes, and their wines, with that audience in mind. "We designed our wines mostly for a female audience," says Kloberdanz, noting that the aforementioned demographic is worth an estimated $1 trillion, "so we eased off on the tannin, the high alcohol and really tried to create smoother wines that were a little easier to drink." While the story is compelling and the cause is fantastic, the real test is how the wine tastes. We were lucky enough to get three bottles from One Hope, and we're delighted to report that they're solid. We tried the brut, the chardonnay, and a Napa Valley pinot noir. Each of them wore their cause proudly, but refused to be little more than a vehicle for charity. Make no mistake, these are serious wines. They have about 18 varieties in their portfolio, and the grapes have been sourced from all over Sonoma County, Napa Valley, and the vast Central Coast. The brut was a delightful, moussey glass very eager to show off its tricks.

It was steeped with pears, apricots, and some lovely tropical fruits on the mid-palate. This is one of those 'beast it at a garden party' bottles of fizz. Read the full review here. The chardonnay, their flagship wine, is wonderfully mild yet crisp—a far cry from the flabby butter bombs of the 1980s. It seems to have seen only a flash of oak, nowhere near enough to quash the vibrant honeysuckle, pineapple, and tropical fruit. We found this to be a delightful little wine for the money. The pinot noir didn't quite do it for us as much as the whites. It's such an infuriating, fickle grape that provides enough flashes of brilliance to keep you engaged and hopeful, but rarely seems to hit anything you could call consistency. It's like Wayne Rooney. 2011 was a rough year in California, and a rough year for pinot noir is basically a death sentence. Though this wine was weaker than the others, it still had a wonderful rich nose that showed a lot of depth of character. It did show a little too much bite for us, and gave the impression that it knew it should taste better.