Brad Pitt has become a regular renaissance man.
In addition to his day job as a huge movie star, his architectural and environmental projects and being a father of six, the now Oscar-winning producer is also a vintner, he and Angelina Jolie being the purveyors of Château Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé.
So who better to cover the June 30, 2014, issue of Wine Spectator than Pitt, who looks even better than that chilled glass of rosé he's holding, and his winemaking partner Marc Perrin?
"I'm a farmer now," Pitt told the magazine. "I love learning about the land and which field is most suitable for which grape, the drama of September and October: Are we picking today? Where are the sugar levels? How is the acidity? Is it going to rain? It's been a schooling for me. In the off months, I enjoy cleaning the forest and walking the land."
Brangelina's wine is produced from the fruits of the vineyard on their 1,000-acre state in Correns and, not surprisingly, the first 6,000 bottles that rolled off the line sold out online within hours in March 2013.
The vintage later got a thumbs-up from the discerning restaurateur and Master Chef star Joe Bastianich in Vanity Fair and was named the Best Rosé in the World by Wine Spectator, which slotted it at No. 83 on its overall list of the year's Top 100 Wines in 2013.
"For better or worse," Pitt continued, "given my compulsive nature, if we are going to be in the wine business, let's make the best wine we can...I asked the question, ‘Why can't we make world-class wine in Provence?' Let's approach it like a film, and let's make something we can be proud of and people can enjoy."
And he and Jolie didn't even have to put pictures of themselves on the label!
"We envision a superb Provence red. A super Provence. Give us seven years," Pitt promised.
The Hollywood veteran, who just scored his first Oscar as a producer on Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, continued to explain what he likes so much about being "a farmer."
"It's very peaceful and the antithesis of the drive, the want, the need to get ahead indicative of life in Hollywood," Pitt raved about life in France. "I'm instantly reminded what quiet sounds like."
"There is a prevalent spirit of creativity here," he said, "and it is our goal to continue in that spirit. What comes out of it, I can't say yet, but we want to be true to that spirit."
Cheers to that.