Cavalli in the bottle

It's not often one keeps a designer must-have in the cellar, but Roberto Cavalli is changing all that with the release of two new wine brands: Cavalli Collection and Cavalli Selection. The blends of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Alicante Bouchet are produced from grapes grown on the Cavalli family estate - Tenuta degli Dei, in the Chianti region of Tuscany - for the business, which is run by Cavalli's son, Tommaso. "Tommaso never asked me for anything in his life and wanted to give the name of the territory to the wine," the designer tells WWD. "He's the true idealist. He didn't want to take advantage of my name, but it's taken me 40 years to build my brand - why not make reference to it to promote the wine?" And with leopard-printed and RC-logo'd bottles, they certainly haven't done that with half measures. The first 5,000 bottles of Cavalli wine - which have taken eight years to perfect - will be distributed in Tuscany before launching in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the US early next year.