Goddess of NASCAR Danica Patrick is a lover of wine. She, along with husband Paul Hospenthal have acquired a very impressive wine cellar with over 1,000 bottles.
From ESPN W:
Some wine drinkers are aficionados. Some are connoisseurs. Danica Patrick jokingly refers to herself as a “wino.” Hers is a humble but fervent affection for a complex and increasingly expensive pleasure.
In her cellar of a thousand or so bottles, she and husband Paul Hospenthal have amassed a catalogue of coveted global vintages.
There’s a secret door in the back that goes to … I don’t know what the heck is back there. I wouldn’t open it though,” she joked. Some bottles come back from vacations; some come in crates a few years after purchase. But they come into appreciative hands and waiting glasses.
Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine,” Patrick posited. “It must be something.”
Patrick’s introduction to wine came when she tasted freedom as a teen racing in England, but consuming it became part of the ancillary process of being a professional race car driver.
Patrick’s favorite winery is Harlan Estate, and in the aforementioned article she articulated how her palate evolves from sweet to dry in white wines. And yes, there’s a reference to the movie “Sideways,” because you can’t legally have a discussion about wine snobbery these days without mentioning the 2004 film- which probably hurt the sale of Merlot (and helped the sale of Pinot Noir) more than any propaganda campaign ever could.
Danica Patrick and her husband have visited the wine region in Cape Town in addition to the world famous Napa Valley.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.