Meghan Markle released her wine on July 1 and it was met with sell-out success.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, took to Instagram to announce that her 2023 Napa Valley rosé, made in California, quickly sold out in under an hour.
As Ever customers were able to purchase three bottles of the ‘thoughtfully curated’ for $90, six bottles for $159, and 12 bottles for $300.
Luckily, the Palace Confidential team got their hands on a bottle, allowing the Mail’s Royal experts to try it for themselves on the latest episode of the hit YouTube show.
Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor, was the first to take a sip – and it didn’t take long for him to screw up his nose.
‘It’s sort of sweet at first but with a bitter aftertaste,’ he said.
‘Now Richard,’ replied a sarcastic Luke Blackall, who hosted this week’s show. ‘I don’t know what you could be talking about.’
‘Genuinely,’ Richard insisted. ‘It does have quite an unpleasant aftertaste.’
Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor, thought the wine had a ‘bitter’ aftertaste
As Ever customers were able to purchase three bottles of the ‘thoughtfully curated’ for $90, six bottles for $159, and 12 bottles for $300
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, takes a sip of wine on her Netflix show With Love, Meghan
After taking a sip, Luke turned his attention to Charlotte Griffiths, the Mail on Sunday’s Editor-at-Large.
‘It’s quite strong, isn’t it?’ he asked her. ‘It’s 14.5 per cent which is quite a lot for a rosé.’
‘I don’t actually drink,’ replied Charlotte. ‘So I will have one sip and be completely sloshed because I have no tolerance left and it’s 14.5 per cent!’
Raising the glass to her lips and taking a small sip, Charlotte said: ‘Oh god, I’ve missed that. Maybe I will take up drinking again. It’s been about five years!’
Going into more depth, she said: ‘That is strong and fine. It’s fine.
‘I could see myself putting that on the table. All my friends would refuse to drink it but I think it makes an elegant addition to a table.
‘Who doesn’t love a glass of frosty cold rosé?’
To which Richard replied: ‘I think if it was £5, you might think “great” but I think it’s about $30 a bottle.’
She took to Instagram to announce that her 2023 Napa Valley rosé sold out in under an hour
The wine, made in California, is 14.5 per cent – more than the average rosé
Richard Eden (centre) is joined on the hit YouTube show by Charlotte Griffiths (left), the Mail on Sunday’s Editor-at-Large, and host Luke Blackall (right)
Charlotte, who hasn’t had alcohol for five years, said the wine was ‘strong’ and ‘fine’
‘And you have to buy three,’ Luke added. ‘I think they only come in sets of three.’
‘I would certainly be giving away the second two as a gift, I think,’ Richard quipped.
Charlotte, who has been reporting on the royals – and running in their circles – for 15 years, said that her biggest gripe was with the wine bottle itself.
‘I don’t think it’s a very fancy bottle,’ she said. ‘It’s not very stylishly designed.’
‘Are you saying we should or shouldn’t judge a bottle by its cover?’ asked Luke.
‘I judge the bottle by its cover,’ Charlotte said. ‘I think it needs an upgrade. A taller neck and more elegant foil.
‘Love is in the detail,’ she added, quoting the Duchess in her Netflix series With Love, Meghan.
Jan Moir, a much loved columnist at the Daily Mail, also had a taste of Meghan’s wine.
Jan Moir, taste tests Meghan’s rosé, in a clip sent into Palace Confidential
In an exclusive clip featured on Palace Confidential, Jan said: ‘This just isn’t any old rosé, this is the Duchess of Sussex rosé.
‘According to the blurb, she “thoughtfully curated and thoughtfully crafted” herself. Now, I don’t imagine she was tramping the grapes up in the Napa Valley.
‘What is astonishing to me is that the alcoholic content of this wine is 14.5 per cent,’ Jan said. ‘In Scotland, we would call this “Wreck the Hoose Juice”.
‘It’s very, very strong for a rosé. Most European rosés are only 12.5 per cent,’ she added.
‘If you take something like Whispering Angel, which is not just the bestselling rosé in America, it’s the bestselling rosé in the world, I think, and that’s only 12.5 per cent.’
Pouring it into a glass not unsimilar to the one Meghan used in her promotion pictures, Jan said: ‘It looks like rosé. It smells like rosé.’
After taking a sip, she delivered her verdict: ‘I want to be honest with you, it’s a bit too sweet for me.
‘It’s quite fruity. She says it’s got notes of “minerality” in it but I don’t get that,’ Jan said. ‘I get stone fruit. It’s a bit plummy.
‘As I said, it’s just not my favourite style of rosé. A lot of people do like it but I prefer the paler ones from the Mediterranean because that’s the kind of person I am.’
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