A few months ago, the Murdoch-owned Times of London organized a “blind taste test” of various jams and they included the Duchess of Sussex’s As Ever raspberry spread. I’m pretty sure the taste test was conducted in the Times’ New York office with various Times editors and reporters. The Times ended up posting the video online and it was sort of amazing how all of the taste-testers agreed that the As Ever jam was great and the best one out of the group. Well, now another Murdoch-owned outlet, the NY Post, has organized a blind taste-test of “celebrity rosés.” Guess which one was the favorite among wine connoisseurs in New York?
Meghan Markle’s acting career might have peaked with “Suits,” but she’s besting A-Listers with her new wine. In a blind taste test, Markle’s As Ever rosé beat out pink vinos from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jon and Jesse Bon Jovi.
“This wine is good enough to be poured at Buckingham Palace,” said Christian Bendek, a certified sommelier from downtown Brooklyn who was part of a panel of top New York City wine experts The Post assembled for a tasting of celebrity wines.
Markle’s As Ever 2023 Napa Valley rosé swirled into the crowded celeb stunt wine space on July 1 — on what would have been Princess Diana’s 64th birthday — selling out within an hour of its launch. The rosy sipper, which retails for $30 and is made from a blend of cabernet sauvignon, mourvedre, grenache and syrah grapes, is described on the As Ever website as having “soft notes of stone fruit” with “gentle minerality” and “reminiscent of the finest Provencal styles.”
Panelist Nikki McCutcheon, a sommelier and the wine director at Tao Group’s Cathedrale and Sake No Hanna, said the rich and complex wine is worth its $30 price tag.
“It has a touch of cherry red fruit on the finish,” she enthused. “This you could drink on its own or paired with food. It could pair very well with French, Mediterranean food. This one gets a star.”
Bendek described the wine as “coconut-ty, very tropical” and said it was more “interesting” than many celebrity entries.
The panel’s second favorite wine was Miraval Rosé Cotes de Provence ($24.99). The French vineyard was purchased by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2008 and has been a $500 million sticking point in their nasty divorce battle. But there’s no drama in the easy drinking wine.
“It’s really approachable. Nice minerality,” McCutcheon said of the widely available quaff, which is made with grenache, syrah and rolle grapes from the Provence region of France. Panelist Chris Miller, the managing partner at The Lamb’s Club and co-founder of the Times Square wine window, also deemed it an “approachable” summer sipper but said it “needs more of a backbone.”
Our panel also liked the aptly named Hampton Water ($25.99) from Jon Bon Jovi and son Jesse Bon Jovi, rating the rock star rosé third.
This is great. I’m surprised more Sussex-obsessed outlets with the time and resources aren’t doing the same. I guess they find it more lucrative to just scream like banshees about every little thing Meghan does without any kind of context. Like, I’ll admit – I had no idea that so many celebrities were doing rosé lines these days. The way people were carrying on, you’d think that Meghan was the first one. Anyway, it’s great that so many wine experts loved As Ever! I’m sure they’ll love her next offering too.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, As Ever’s IG.
