Imagine putting together a playlist that begins with Sting's Englishman in New York and moves straight into Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out of My Head.

So far, a slightly eccentric dinner party.

Then Snoop Dogg arrives with Drop It Like It's Hot. Jay-Z takes over with Empire State of Mind. Bon Jovi gets everyone through Livin' on a Prayer, and Tool closes the evening with Schism.

Whoever made this playlist either has extraordinarily broad taste or has lost control of the speakers.

Now imagine six bottles arriving at the table.

A Tuscan red. A French rosé. A California red blend. Champagne in a gold bottle. Another rosé from southern France. And a wine from Arizona.

The Gold Bottle

In Jay-Z's 2006 video Show Me What U Got, a silver briefcase opens to reveal a gold bottle of Champagne. It's Armand de Brignac, better known as Ace of Spades. The presentation is wonderfully excessive, although by hip-hop standards a Champagne bottle travelling in its own briefcase is hardly the most extravagant thing imaginable.

For years, Cristal had enjoyed an extraordinary second life in rap lyrics. Its name appeared alongside expensive cars, jewellery and the other pleasures of having considerably more money than you used to. Champagne houses had spent generations cultivating exclusivity. Hip-hop had found a way to make that exclusivity part of popular culture.

Then, in 2006, comments by a senior executive at the company behind Cristal prompted a backlash. Jay-Z, who had previously celebrated the Champagne in his music, announced a boycott. Armand de Brignac soon became closely associated with him, although the precise details of his early relationship with the brand remain less clear than the story is sometimes told.

In 2014, Jay-Z acquired Armand de Brignac. Seven years later, Moët Hennessy purchased a 50% stake. The Champagne is produced by the Cattier family in France.

Snoop Dogg, meanwhile, had his own ideas about what belonged in a wine glass.

He grew up in Long Beach, California, where wine wasn't particularly familiar. Fellow rapper Warren G introduced him to Merlot, and years later Snoop collaborated with 19 Crimes on Cali Red, a California red blend with his face on the label.

There is no mistaking it for a discreet little Burgundy. Snoop's image occupies the bottle with the same confidence he brings to a stage. The collaboration with 19 Crimes brought his West Coast identity into an established wine company's portfolio, without requiring him to own a vineyard or run a winery.

Jay-Z's gold Champagne and Snoop's Cali Red make an entertaining pair. Both belong to the world of hip-hop, but one sits comfortably among luxury watches and private celebrations, while the other looks perfectly happy at a barbecue.

A Little Pink Music

Kylie Minogue was recording Golden in Nashville in 2017 when an exceptionally hot summer evening gave her an idea. She and her manager Polly were drinking Whispering Angel outdoors, trying to escape the heat. Kylie began wondering what it would be like to have a rosé of her own.

The idea eventually brought her together with Benchmark Drinks. During a tasting session in her London office, the team arrived with samples, and Kylie supplied cheese, biscuits and some fairly definite opinions about wine.

She didn't want excessive sweetness or heavy, overly fruity styles. She preferred freshness and complexity, with enough texture to keep the wine interesting. In her interview with The Drinks Business, she describes comparing different rosés and choosing the wines she was happy to put her name on.

She also insisted that her name be made smaller on the label. A rather unexpected request from someone whose name had been selling records for decades.

Kylie Minogue Wines launched in 2020, with a pale pink Signature Rosé made from Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. The bottle was unmistakably part of Kylie's world, but the details of its creation reveal someone with more specific preferences than a marketing department might have expected.

Jon Bon Jovi's rosé began with an argument over vocabulary.

During family summers in the Hamptons, his son Jesse Bongiovi and his friends called rosé Hampton water. Jon preferred pink juice, a phrase that sounds like something a father might deliberately keep using because it annoys his children.

According to Jesse's account in Hamptons.com, one evening Jon offered the younger generation more pink juice, prompting Jesse to correct him. Jon liked the alternative name and suggested it would look good on a bottle.

Jesse took the idea seriously, returned with a business plan and eventually helped bring French winemaker Gérard Bertrand into the project. Hampton Water Rosé was born in France, although its name remained firmly attached to summers on the American East Coast.

The Other Side of the Stage

Sting's wine has a rather different address.

In 1997, he and Trudie Styler bought Il Palagio, a Tuscan estate with old buildings, olive groves and vineyards in need of restoration. The property had charm, even if its agricultural potential was less immediately convincing.

Sting has told a particularly good story about the purchase. During negotiations, the previous owner, an Italian duke, served him an exquisite red wine and said it came from the estate. Sting was impressed enough to buy the property. Later, according to his account in Decanter, he discovered that the wine had actually been a Bordeaux first growth.

When the couple eventually opened bottles from the estate's own cellar at a party, the results were rather less impressive. Trudie recalled guests discreetly emptying their glasses into the flower beds.

The vineyards were restored, professional winemakers brought in, and Il Palagio began producing wines including Sister Moon, named after one of Sting's songs. Sting later joked about sending bottles of his improved wine to the former owner as revenge.

A few thousand kilometres away, Tool's Maynard James Keenan was dealing with a much less forgiving landscape.

Keenan became interested in winemaking after visiting Pegasus Bay in New Zealand. He watched the work taking place inside the winery and decided it was something he wanted to learn. In 2002, he planted his first vines in Arizona.

The state presents peculiar challenges for grape growers. Vineyards can sit at considerable altitude, where warm days give way to cold nights, and spring frosts threaten the growing season. Keenan has spent years working with these conditions through Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards.

In an interview with Elaine Chukan Brown for JancisRobinson.com, he discusses vineyard sites, climate and the difficulties of growing grapes there. The conversation is refreshingly practical. Anyone hoping for mysterious insights into Tool's lyrics will have to look elsewhere.

Sting and Keenan both have direct connections to the land, although their projects began in very different circumstances. One restored an established Tuscan estate with the help of experienced professionals; the other became involved in developing vineyards in a region still establishing its reputation.

The Last Track

Back at our imaginary dinner, the six bottles are waiting to be opened.

The gold Champagne has travelled from a hip-hop video into Jay-Z's business portfolio. Snoop's Cali Red is the result of a commercial collaboration. Kylie has helped select the style of her rosé, while Hampton Water carries a family joke across the Atlantic. Sting's Tuscan estate and Keenan's Arizona vineyards demand a rather different kind of involvement.

On a wine-shop shelf, all six might be grouped under celebrity wines. It's a convenient expression, although it tells us remarkably little about what's inside the bottle or who was involved in making it.

I'd still enjoy hearing the playlist over dinner. Perhaps we'd open Sting's Sister Moon during Drop It Like It's Hot, or pour Kylie's rosé while Tool plays. Someone would probably complain about the music, and somebody else would insist on opening the Champagne before the first course.

Wine is never just wine. A famous name may get a bottle onto the table, but the story of how it arrived there is rarely as simple as the label suggests.