This week has been pretty quiet for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The royal gossip has been centered on the Macrons’ state visit to the UK and the Windsors’ charm-offense, including the Princess of Wales saving the day by dominating headlines. Well, one thing did happen this week involving Meghan: people began receiving their As Ever rosé. Several media outlets ordered the wine – what a write-off – and “reviews” of the wine have already been published. InStyle published their review yesterday, writing in part:
The bottle describes the pour as “A delicately balanced rosé with soft notes of stone fruit, gentle minerality, and a lasting finish.” Beyond the marketing speak, in layman’s terms, the rosé is good. My experience with it? It is smooth—almost dangerously smooth, as we finished the whole bottle in one night without even trying. (And no, I’m not hungover this morning.) It goes down easy and is dry and light; to hear my husband describe it, his three adjectives were lively, refreshing, and pleasant. Mine? Flavorful, sweet, and enjoyable.
…With every As Ever product Meghan releases, the pressure is on. Unfortunately, people want to see the Duchess of Sussex fail. So you can safely bet that As Ever isn’t going to release a product unless it’s good—and this rosé is good. Really good, actually. Made in small batches, the bespoke blend is the first of a collection of wines joining As Ever’s lineup—according to the company, a Méthode Champenoise Napa Valley sparkling wine is planned for the near future (with other wines to follow thereafter).
I believe this – I think Meghan literally has “good taste” in wine and she wouldn’t put As Ever’s name on anything she didn’t fully support. The wine sounds great and it’s nice to hear that it’s smooth. Unfortunately, the hacks at the Daily Mail also bought three bottles and had the wine sent to their New York office. The Mail’s New York employees got to taste-test the rosé and would you believe it, they HATED it! I wouldn’t normally recommend clicking on a Mail link, but their review was hilariously overwrought and they literally photographed every single part of the As Ever packaging and the wine bottles, as well as photographing themselves POURING THE WINE. From the Mail’s “review”:
Upon opening the package, we discovered our three bottles of wine nestled in between two egg crate cartons that were shaped like bottles. We’ll give it to the Duchess – nothing broke on its way from California to New York, but for nearly $30 per bottle, we would hope that wouldn’t be the case. Each bottle was wrapped in a piece of thin white tissue paper, which, frankly, felt a little cheap, and sealed with a gold-and-white sticker with the As Ever logo stamped on it. The bottle featured a white sticker on the front which read ‘As Ever’ in the brand’s signature gold script, the logo once again, and gold wrapping at the neck of the bottle – chic.
Her As Ever rosé is described on the bottle as a ‘delicately balanced rosé with soft notes of stone fruit, gentle minerality, and a lasting finish.’ It also has a 14.5 per cent alcohol by volume for the 750ML bottle.
Our first sip left a lot to be desired, as it honestly didn’t taste like much. The wine was smooth, but we couldn’t easily detect the notes of stone fruit. It also managed to taste quite bland, and almost water-y. Despite the lack of flavor, the rosé managed to taste quite acidic, and like a really strong, alcoholic wine.
Many sippers on the FEMAIL team agreed, and we noticed that it left a somewhat uncomfortable sensation at the back of our throats after swallowing. The wine didn’t taste like you bought it at a fancy vineyard, where it’s supposed to be made. Instead, it tasted affordable and ordinary. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. Overall, it was pretty commonplace, like a wine you would be served at a work happy hour.
Considering this is the same outlet which has devoted no fewer than a hundred articles to Meghan’s flower sprinkles, I’m surprised by the distinct lack of commentary about the wine? “It didn’t taste like much, oh no wait, it was too strong, yet it was bland!” I was expecting a live blog devoted to every sip. I kind of hope the Times of London does another “blind taste-test” and Times journalists accidentally reveal that they love Meghan’s wine, just like they loved her jam.
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Photos courtesy of As Ever’s IG.
