October 24, 2017
The NBA is back in action, the Sixers are officially in the win column, and none of it matters. Charles Barkley will still be miserable about the predictability of it all.
“The toughest thing for me is I have to get on TV and fake it for seven months that it’s not going to be the Warriors and Cavs in the finals again,” Barkley, 54, told The New York Times last week.
There's no question he needs something to take the edge off during the long NBA season. Who knew it would be wine?
Charles Barkley's new wine pic.twitter.com/qfKgk11vOZ
— Patrick Meehan (@PixESPN) October 23, 2017
Sir Charles officially launched his own wine label, CB Vineyards, at an event last week in San Francisco. He's partnering with Regal Wine Co. and Broken Earth Winery on a chardonnay and two red blends, according to Haute Living.
As the story goes, Barkley was lured into the wine world by industry vet and longtime friend Donald Kowalski, whom he met more than 25 years ago during a golf outing with Michael Jordan. The two developed a barter system: Kowalski got tickets to Barkley's games in Golden State, and Barkley received top-notch cigars.
At the time, Barkley reportedly thought "wine sucks," but Kowalski won him over and got him interested in entering the business. The thing is, Barkley doesn't want any money from it. Nothing is more valuable than a chance to take a shot at Shaq.
“I’m excited about this venture, really excited. When we first started talking about it, I said, ‘I don’t want to put my name on something just to make money,'” Barkley said. “That would make me Shaq.'"
It's not yet clear where Barkley will donate the earnings, but CB Vineyards 2014 Red Blend, CB Vineyards 2015 Chardonnay and CB The Analyst 2014 reserve red blend will all be available in stores in the near future.
