• by Christine Bittar , September 20, 2006

Grand Cru face cream? So it seems.

Perhaps he was inspired by Sarah Jessica Parker's enthusiasm for the grape seed oil in Garnier hair color when she talks about it in TV ads. Carlos Mondavi--of the Mondavi wine family--is entering the beauty arena with a line of luxury anti-aging skin care items infused with wine's beneficial ingredients.

The key selling point of the line, called Davi, is an obvious one: it contains antioxidants found in grape seed oil and fermented grape extracts. The line will also be touted for extending the healthy properties of wine to skin care products.

Davi is entering the luxury market, where a host of competing brands mix natural, edible, botanical and other "green" ingredients with a not-so-Birkenstock high-end sensibility.

La Prairie, for example, started with one cream containing caviar, but now has a whole Caviar Collection said to address skin firmness and loss of elasticity. Givenchy offers its Skin Drink Essential Moisture Yogurt Cream exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue. Estee Lauder has in the last year expanded its ultra-lux standby Crème de La Mer with new products containing the brand's "Miracle Broth" made from sea kelp, vitamins and other healthy-sounding ingredients.

Davi's special "anti-aging antioxidant complex" is a mixture of ingredients including grape leaf, fermented wine extracts, grape, green tea, black currant oils, olive, raspberry, rosemary and soybean. Mondavi's skin care line is intended for men and women, with both unisex products and items specifically geared to men.

Carlos, who is only 26 years old, is the grandson of the first Mondavi winemaker, Robert. Davi will launch next month in Bergdorf Goodman, where it will be sold exclusively for one year.

Mondavi's next plans international expansion into other retail locations, spas, and hotels.

In addition, the Davi company plans to open destination spas next spring in New York and the Napa Valley, and will add a full line of body care products at that time.

The Davi price range will start at $25 for the men's Reserve Shave Cream and will go up to $175 for the star of the brand, Le Grand Cru, an anti-aging cream. Two separate men's and women's lines consist of cleanser, face cream, and face lotion with SPF 30.

Products to be added include facial scrubs, masks, and an eye gel for use as a morning-after hangover cure--something wine aficionados might want to buy by the case.