The Borgias Wines

Showtime Signs Wine Licensing Deal With Votto Vines

Press Release: 7 September 2010 –

HAMDEN, Conn. – Showtime Networks Inc., in partnership with CBS Consumer Products, has entered into a licensing agreement with Votto Vines Importing (Votto Vines) for a line of Italian wines based on the upcoming SHOWTIME series The Borgias. This will be the first imported wine licensing venture for Showtime Networks and CBS Consumer Products.

“We are thrilled to be working with Showtime and CBS Consumer Products on this unique opportunity,” says Votto Vines President and CEO Michael Votto.  He adds, “This is a tremendous opportunity, and we look forward to developing a successful initiative together.”

In keeping with the setting of The Borgias, the red and white varietals will be imported from the northern Italian region of Veneto.  Each wine will retail for under $15/bottle and will be produced by an award-winning family winery located in the heart of the Bianco di Custoza zone, on the outskirts of the historic center of Verona.  The target release date for The Borgias wines is the spring of 2011, in advance of the show’s premiere.

“In this economy, wine consumers are seeking high-quality wines at great price points,” says Votto Vines SVP of Sales Jeremy Jerome.  “That is what The Borgias wine brand will represent.  Traditional Italian varietals from the region of Veneto at a price point that will appeal to both the novice and experienced wine consumer alike.  Having nearly finalized the selection process for The Borgias wines, we are confident that wine consumers will be very excited about these wines.”

THE BORGIAS, a one-hour drama series based on the infamous Italian Renaissance family, will premiere on SHOWTIME in spring 2011 with nine episodes. Oscar®-winning actor Jeremy Irons will star in the epic drama as Rodrigo Borgia, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of the Borgia family who ascends to the highest circles of power within Renaissance-era Italy.   Additionally, Academy Award®-winning director Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game”) will create and executive produce the series and will direct the first two episodes.  The series is currently in production in Budapest.

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September 8, 2010
Categories: Latest News and Posts . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: jeremyironsno1fan . Comments: Leave a comment

Jeremy Irons to star in “The Borgias” for Showtime

Jeremy Irons to star in “The Borgias” TV show
Sat Jan 9, 2010 5:08pm EST

LOS ANGELES, Jan 9 (Reuters Life!) – Scheming Italian renaissance family “The Borgias” will be the subject of a U.S. television series next year, with Oscar-winning British actor Jeremy Irons playing the starring role.

Robert Greenblatt, entertainment chief of Showtime, told TV reporters on Saturday the cable channel had ordered 10 episodes of “The Borgias” to be directed by Neil Jordan, who won a screenwriting Oscar for his 1992 film, “The Crying Game.”

“The Borgias” will air in spring 2011 and replace Showtime’s hit steamy English period drama “The Tudors,” whose fourth and final season starts in April.

The Borgia family, one of whose members became Pope Alexander VI in 1492, was notorious for murder, rape and corruption in 15th century Italy and has inspired a number of books, plays and films.

Irons, 61, won an Oscar for his role as socialite Claus von Bulow in the 1990 movie “Reversal of Fortune.” (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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THE WORLD’S MOST NOTORIOUS DYNASTY – THE BORGIAS – COMES TO SHOWTIME

Network Greenlights Epic Drama Series Starring Oscar(R) Winner Jeremy Irons and Executive Produced by Academy Award(R) Winning Director Neil Jordan and Veteran Film and Television Writer/Producer Michael Hirst

LOS ANGELES, CA, January 09, 2010 – Showtime Networks has ordered 10 episodes of a one-hour drama series based on the infamous Italian Renaissance family The Borgias, it was announced today by Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. Oscar(R)-winning actor Jeremy Irons will star in the epic drama series as Rodrigo Borgia, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of The Borgia family who ascends to the highest circles of power within Renaissance-era Italy. Additionally, Academy Award(R) winning director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) will create and executive produce the series as well as direct the first two episodes. Veteran film and television writer/producer Michael Hirst, who created, wrote and executive produced SHOWTIME’s original series The Tudors, will serve as executive producer/writer.

“Having blazed a trail with the award-winning THE TUDORS, we wanted to continue to offer our audience a period drama as wicked, witty, and utterly compelling — and that’s what THE BORGIAS will be,” said Greenblatt. “I can guarantee you’ve never seen a family quite like this before, nor could you make up the outrageous twists and turns of their epic saga if your life depended on it. The directorial mastery of Neil Jordan along with Michael Hirst’s flair for bringing historical dramas vividly to life for a contemporary audience will make THE BORGIAS unlike anything else on television.”

THE BORGIAS will be a complex, unvarnished portrait of one of history’s most intriguing and infamous dynastic families. The series begins as the family’s patriarch Rodrigo (Jeremy Irons), becomes Pope, propelling him, his two Machiavellian sons Cesare and Juan, and his scandalously beautiful daughter, Lucrezia, to become the most powerful and influential family of the Italian Renaissance. And all that power and influence eventually leads to their demise. As Machiavelli once said about his friends, the Borgias, “Politics have no relation to morals.”

Jeremy Irons is one of the most celebrated film, television and stage stars of the last thirty years. He has won the Academy Award (R) (Reversal of Fortune), a Tony Award(R) (The Real Thing), two Emmy Awards(R) (Elizabeth I, The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century), two Golden Globe(R) Awards (Elizabeth I, Reversal of Fortune) and a Screen Actors Guild Award(R) (Elizabeth I). His list of memorable films and television include; Brideshead Revisited, The Mission, Dead Ringers, Being Julia, The Merchant of Venice, Lolita, and Appaloosa. Last season he appeared on Broadway in Impression opposite Joan Allen. He is currently nominated for a Golden Globe and SAG Awards for his performance in Georgia O’Keefee.

The series will be produced as a Canadian-European Treaty co-production in a manner similar to the production of THE TUDORS. It will go into production this spring for a debut in early 2011.

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January 9, 2010
Categories: Latest News and Posts . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: jeremyironsno1fan . Comments: Leave a comment