Copperworks Distilling recently teamed with Washington's Doubleback Winery to finish one of the former's American single malts in the latter's French oak casks that previously held Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Celebrity wine and spirit brands are now so ubiquitous they seem to be almost a rite of passage. For some, though, the stereotype of a vanity project doesn’t quite fit.
“We started our endeavor in the oldest way possible: We started in the dirt,” says former National Football League quarterback Drew Bledsoe. After his playing career ended, Bledsoe and his family returned to his hometown of Walla Walla, Wash., starting the aptly-named Doubleback Winery. “We purchased a piece of land and planted vines. Our kids actually helped plant vines with us back in 2007.”
Bledsoe, who played 14 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the New England Patriots, admits a bit of name recognition is helpful to the cause. “But that isn’t what this project is about,” he says. “We have always shied away from the ‘celebrity winery’ angle. My wife and I love wine, and the more we learned about the entire business, the more intriguing it became. Once we disco