BOSTON -- I love it when two of my favorite things converge with my job.

Being on hand for the 2008 launch of Longball Cellars Red Sox wines at Fenway Park last week brought together baseball and the fruit of the vine.

This is the second year that Charity Wines of Winchendon, Mass., has produced bottles of vino bearing the names and images of Red Sox stars, with all the athletes’ proceeds going to the charity of their choice. They have catchy names like Captain’s Cabernet (catcher and team captain Jason Varitek), Vintage Papi (Big Papi DH David Ortiz), and Sauvignyoouuk Blanc (for first baseman Kevin Youkilis).

Ortiz, Varitek and Youkilis were all on hand at the Park’s EMC Club for a news conference. It didn’t put any damper on the proceedings that they revealed they had no role in selecting the wines or naming them. Winemakers in Healdsburg, Calif., take all the credit for the wines.

There will be five Red Sox wines on shelves now, with two enjoying their second year sales. Schilling Chardonnay and Tim Wakefield’s CaberKnuckle, both from Chile, were introduced last summer. Gone is Manny Being Merlot, as Ramirez is not participating this year.

After a tasting, the three new wines, from Selby Winery, can be deemed an improvement over last year’s inaugural selections. The Captain’s Cabernet is a nicely done Cabernet Sauvignon. Vintage Papi is a soft blend of Cabernet and Merlot. Youkilis’s Sauvignon Blanc should pair well with summer fish dishes.

During a question-and-answer session with NESN’s Hazel Mae, Ortiz said he built a wine room in his house but it’s empty. He said that he and wife Tiffany enjoy wine. He also said he thinks umpires are rushing the games this season and admitted that he doesn’t really feel very good about a Red Sox fan burying his jersey at the new Yankee Stadium.

Varitek, the team captain, said he liked the name of his wine and said he had no role in tasting it until he tried the finished product, which he liked. He also started to say he drinks a lot of Cabernet before qualifying it with the guarded words of a celebrity and role model that it really isn’t a lot. He also said that beating the New York Yankees in the 2004 playoffs changed the face of the Red Sox organization.

Youkilis said though he prefers to drink red wines, the label needed a white. He said he was glad to represent it. He admitted that fans screaming “Youk” can be somewhat jarring when he’s not at bat but doing ordinary things like grocery shopping. He also said it makes him nervous when he’s driving and hears it shouted on the road. The chant began way back when he played in the Cape Cod League for Bourne, he added.

All the players spoke of their charities, which raise money for children: The David Ortiz Children’s Fund, Varitek and Tim Wakefield’s Pitching in for Kids and Youkilis’s Hits for Kids. Some money goes to children in Boston, New England and others in the Dominican Republic, where Ortiz was born. Charity Wines raised $320,505 for the Red Sox players’ charitable foundations last year.

The wines retail in the $13-$14 range.