NORTHFIELD – Former Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil has legions of loyal fans that remember him from his days pacing the sidelines at Veterans Stadium in the 1970s and ’80s.

While he put his playbook on the shelf in 2005 when he retired from the Kansas City Chiefs, he continues to be a presence as an analyst. These days Coach is also making a name for himself with his Calistoga, California wines.

“It started out as something of a hobby. I was making maybe 10 cases a year,” Vermeil said Saturday afternoon as he was signing bottles of his signature wines at Bootleggers Liquor Store on Tilton Road. “I had given some to a friend and they said, ‘You know, Coach, I think you really have something here.’ So with two backers from New Jersey I launched Vermeil Wines.”

Those humble few cases have grown considerably.

“This year we will bottle about 5,000 cases. It’s not a hobby anymore,” Vermeil said with a big laugh. “I grew up in California where producing great wines was an aspiration.”

Although Vermeil is not out there pulling grapes from the vines or stomping this year’s harvest, he is hands-on and will spend several weeks at the Napa Valley vineyard.

The Vermeil Wines line offered at Bootleggers includes a sauvignon blanc, a hearty cabernet named Jean Louis Vermeil, in honor of his great-grandfathers, and a proprietary red wine that Vermeil explained is a blend of the best grapes of that particular harvest season.

“We wanted to keep that one label that allows us to make subtle changes as the harvest will dictate to create a really terrific wine,” said Vermeil.

Andy Simpson, owner of Bootleggers, said the Vermeil line of wines is always offered in the store and they sell several cases a month.

To learn more about Dick Vermeil’s wines see www.vermeilwines.com.

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