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Gregg Popovich may have his hands full to push NBA team San Antonio Spurs up the Western Conference league table (the team is currently in 15th place, with less than one month to go until end of season), but he has always found time in his schedule for wine.
The basketball legend, who has racked up the most coaching wins in NBA history, is a long-time oenophile, rumoured to be obsessed with Château d’Yquem, with the producer of the iconic dessert wine recently gifting Popovich a bottle of 1949 d’Yquem, following decades of custom.
Popovich also produces his own Rock & Hammer wine, an Oregon Pinot Noir made in very small production, which he auctions off exclusively for charitable causes. The Spurs coach famously once said of his Pinot: “If you don’t like it, I don’t give a damn – it’s not for sale!”
Bids at the ready
Wine and basketball fans alike stay glued to discover the next opportunity to bid for bottles of Rock & Hammer, and the wait is almost over, as Popovich has announced he will make not one vintage, but every vintage since the creation of his wine label, available at a special sale held on 3 May.
Bidding is expected to begin at 8pm CST for the exclusive lot, which includes every vintage from 2005 to 2017.
Cash raised will go towards the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City as part of the museum’s annual ‘ShuttleCork’ fundraiser, and bids can be made through emailing the museum directly.
Expressions of Popovich’s wine are like gold dust, with only a handful of fellow NBA coaches and restaurants fortunate enough to have been gifted bottles over the years.
In 2013 a single bottle of Rock & Hammer 2011 sold for US$760.
“We are extremely fortunate to be able to auction Rock & Hammer Pinot Noir at ShuttleCork this year,” museum director & CEO Julián Zugazagoitia said in a statement.
Rock & Hammer is produced at Rex Hill Winery & Vineyards, owned by parent company A to Z Wineworks, in which Popovich has been an investing partner since 2006. Rex Hill is located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
In 2023, 75-year-old Popovich signed a five-year contract extension, which will keep him with the San Antonio Spurs until the end of the 2027–28 basketball season. The contract is thought to be worth around US$14 million per year.
