Jim Nantz, known for calling everything from the Masters Tournament to the Super Bowl, is teaming up with Peter Deutsch, CEO of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, to form a new partnership: Deutsch Nantz Alliance (DNA), which will initially produce a Sonoma-based wine brand named The Calling. It will be introduced to the market in June.
A news release about the alliance explains that the two business partners met one night at a Connecticut restaurant, where both happened to be dining. Deutsch had just finished reading Nantz’s book, Always by My Side, and went over to introduce himself. “Serendipity brought us together,” said Nantz, who had been meeting with various California winemakers for about ten years about the possibility of introducing a new American wine brand.
“Everyone faces certain callings in their lives. Some act on them; others don’t,” said Nantz, a five-time National Sports Commentator of the Year. “In 2008 I wrote a book about my father. The enormous response to it and my father’s fight against Alzheimer’s inspired me to pursue other things I had always dreamed of. I wasn’t going to wait another minute.”
Deutsch and Nantz collaborated closely on the new wine’s packaging design, graphics and copy. The label’s design features a keyhole that “symbolizes the consumer’s chance to unlock their calling in life,” said Nantz.
Here’s the news release with more details about Jim Nantz’s new calling.
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