Xmas Spirits: "Club Rocco" Brand?

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Well, it may be wine, technically speaking, and not spirits, but nevertheless online retailer Wine.com and Chef Rocco DiSpirito announced today a new chef-branding effort called the "Rocco Wine Club." The deal is that on a monthly basis Wine.com will send members shipments of fine wines that have been hand-selected by Rocco, along with pairing recipes from Rocco, served (formerly) at Union Pacific and Rocco's 22nd and/or listed in his cookbooks Flavor and the new Rocco's Italian American. If a monthly care package doesn't grab you, you can opt for the Christmas special of "Rocco's Italian Wine and Cookbook Collection" as a one-shot deal. I'm a little conflicted here, in that I could be recommending for the Christmas holiday a copy of my own book, Super Chef to be enjoyed a little wine as you read and unfold the fascinating careers of Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Palmer, Todd English, Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger, and Tom Colicchio. No, I'm not going to do that -- though I do think any strong-minded person might just look over Rocco's selection and order as needed, not as packaged. What I am interested in, though, is the difference between this and, say, the selections of someone like Alain Ducasse. When I intereviewed him for the Forbes' Celebrity Chefs list a few years ago -- you know, I'm going to pick this up in another blog entry... (LINK FORTHCOMING) Previous article from the Forbes Celebrity 100: Alain Ducasse (2001) Previous articles: Adam Sandler's Secret Spice: Thomas Keller Rick Moonen Sets Seafood Straight Coffee Puck: Heats in Your Hands Rocco DiSpirito Wins TV Turkey Dinner Stock, by Thomas Keller Emeril!: The Magazine? Buzz-Buzz-Splash, Super Chef Rocco DiSpirito: Pretty in Pink? Rocco DiSpirito: Ridiculed in the Rainbow Room More Reality TV Chefs (or Less)? Alain Ducasse: Hyper Chef -- Now Serving Mars Emeril Adds Some Spice To B&G Foods' IPO Video Killed the Radio Star: Can Radio Resurrect Rocco DiSpirito? Rocco DiSpirito: Be Warned by Me! Claude Troisgros: Riding de Rocco DiSpirito Star Rocco Barred from Reality TV Restaurant Rocco: Trapped in Reality TV's Twilight Zone?