Did you know that CBS ubervoice Jim Nantz is a winemaker? It's true. He told Ed Sherman of "The Sherman Report" (and the guest on today's Awful Announcing podcast) that he's serious about his wine "The Calling."

Why "The Calling?" According to the wine's website, "The Calling is about pursuing a passion, inspiring others, and making a great wine." Ok, but why start making wine now? Sherman writes:

“We want to create the next great premium American wine brand,” Nantz said.

"Nantz believes he has a calling to make wine … He has a high interest in fermented grapes, and it is something that he has wanted to do more than decade."

Give credit to Nantz. If you ordered the wine at a restaurant, you would have no idea that he's behind it. Nantz tells Sherman that he and his partner did not put his name on the wine on purpose because "celebrity" vinos don't sell and aren't taken seriously. There are four wines that are currently on the market. Nantz says 3,000 restaurants across the country carry them.

The Voice of The Masters is so serious about winemaking that he and his wife moved from Connecticut to California so they could be close to The Calling's vineyard. Nantz could have been corny about the wine's brand and used "Hello, Friends" but he chose not to. Thank goodness.

Is there any more perfect match between profession and "calling" than Jim Nantz as a winemaker? You can just imagine him voicing a wine commercial with the dulcet tones he uses to describe the azaleas at Augusta. Perhaps in the future, we'll see him pitch his wine like Orson Welles. We can only hope.

[The Sherman Report]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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