Today's Blind Items - Vino

I have written in this space about various actors and celebrities and their embellished advertising about their liquors and wines, but this one tops them all. It is not especially long, but just the grift involved is next level. This A+ list celebrity chef who has had his issues with women in the past has a winery he is constantly promoting. The thing is, it isn't in Napa or some other domestic winery so it is difficult to source his grapes that he is using for bottling. He will list off some random vineyards, but none of them will acknowledge doing business with him. It turns out that for your starter $20 bottle of wine from the chef, he is actually using grapes that are from a third pass. He doesn't use the first or second. They are one step away from waste. Because of this he makes a profit of several thousand percent per case. It is also the same wine he forces on you at his restaurants at even higher markups.