The other night after enjoying some chips and Newman's Own Organic Cilantro Medium Salsa while I cooked up a dinner of penne and Sockarooni Sauce, salad with Newman's Own Caesar Dressing, and poured my children glasses of Newman's Own Virgin Limeade, I thought, "Gee, there's only one thing missing: Newman's Own wine." I've always wanted to eat a meal that was almost completely celebrity-branded. Well, the fine folks at Newman's Own must have read my mind because the company has announced a partnership with the Rebel Wine Co. to create a california chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In fact, Paul Newman himself echoed my thoughts:

"Wine was the only thing missing at dinner time. Now the meal is complete," Newman said in a statement issued by his company Tuesday.

All joking aside, as much as I like to poke fun at celebrity "winemakers" I'm going to cut Mr. Newman some slack because he does donate all the profits of his Newman's Own products to charity and the Newman's Own products that I have tried are consistently high-quality. The wine is scheduled to be bottled sometime in December and will retail for around $16 once it hits the shelves sometime in March 2008.