The story was originally published by the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 4, 2008.
Inqlings: Try a slug of this with your pizza
Author: Michael Klein
Mike Schmidt hit 548 home runs in his 18 seasons with the Phillies.
His new wine is a stand-up double.
On Friday, Schmidt dropped by Citizens Bank Park to introduce Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, whose sale will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Schmidt said he had been involved with the foundation since a friend’s son died of the disease at age 21. Organizers Charity Wines and Charity Hop have enlisted other 500-homer hitters to star on their own charity bottles. Wine expert, Keith Wallace of the Wine School of Philadelphia, whom I asked to taste the 2006 red zinfandel (bottled by Eos Estate Winery on California’s Central Coast), seemed impressed. He detected notes of “rich, black pepper and clove . . . pruney, raisiny quality . . . lots of alcohol on the nose . . . medicinal . . . boysenberry syrup, from IHOP . . . soft, round tannins . . . good bottle for pizza.”
Wallace dubbed it a $10 bottle though when it hits stores in less than a month, its estimated retail will be $19, with $1.25 going to charity.