In late 2023, the multiple-time world footballer Lionel Messi introduced his own range of wines to the market. As Wine-Searcher reports, the brand was created in collaboration with the Geneva-based company MM Winemaker and was promoted by Messi himself via Instagram. Italian winemaker Marco Maci is responsible for the wines.
The entry-level range of the brand is named "Lionel GOAT 10" – 10 being Messi's jersey number on the football field, and GOAT stands for "Greatest Of All Time," a term initially used for the boxer Muhammad Ali. This line comprises varietal wines from various Italian communal regions (IGT), from Apulia to Veneto, as well as a Prosecco DOC. The Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Prosecco are offered at a cost of €32 per bottle, while the remaining wines within the collection are priced at €39 per bottle.
The middle range of the collection is called the "Lionel Titanium Collection" and includes a Primitivo IGT Puglia and a Syrah IGT Sicilia, each priced at €110 per bottle. The super-premium segment is named the "Lionel Diamond Collection" and also consists of two wines, a Taurasi DOCG from Campania and an Aglianico del Sannio DOC, also from Campania, each available for €495 per bottle.
Messi is not the first celebrity contact for Marco Maci. According to his own website, he was or is already in contact with the most famous Argentinian footballer before Messi, the late Diego Armando Maradona, as well as Pope John Paul II, actor Tom Hanks and Chinese head of state Xi Jinping. From this illustrious company, at least Maradona was also granted his own wine line from Maci. VM
