Wine is the trendy topic amongst NBA players at the moment. Portland Trail Blazers Carmelo Anthony and CJ McCollum are both deeply involved in the industry.
Portland Trail Blazers CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony are both very passionate about the wine industry. Over the NBA hiatus, they have both shown how heavily involved they are in the world of wine. McCollum, now with his own label and product. Melo, with his podcast show – What’s in your Glass, and his ambition to also start his own wine brand.
Melo has been passionate about wine for a while now and was prominent as a connoisseur among NBA veterans and close friends LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Melo started his own show, What’s in Your Glass. He has guests on across different industries, including actors and musicians. He discusses politics and current events while also sampling wine and talking about different vintages and people’s tastes.
On an episode in April with actor Jamie Foxx, Melo announced that he had fast-tracked the development of his wine label. In late June, he also talked about how he wanted more black people to get themselves into the industry.
"In the wine culture, I just think us as black people need to start and continue to learning about these things because at the end of the day it’s educational from an agricultural standpoint, farming standpoint. We need more of our people, black people, in those areas taking advantage of the farming and agricultural opportunities."
McCollum excitedly announced the launch of his first vintage on June 25th. Partnering with Adelsheim Vineyard, his 2018 Pinot Noir will be called McCollum Heritage 91.
"“I truly do enjoy it, I think it pairs well with a lot of things. It’s so smooth, it’s light on the body. And historically, after drinking the McCollum Heritage 91 there’s been no hangover, which is very very vital and important during these quarantine days. Especially if you want to make it to your workout on time.”"
McCollum made the most of the quarantine period, ramping up the process of launching his wine after being in discussions with the company for around a year.
Both McCollum and Melo have shown that NBA players have diverse business investments these days. Minimizing risk by investing across different industries, players have truly embraced building themselves as brands.