Meghan Markle’s Lifestyle Brand, American Riviera Orchard, Has Reportedly Decided on What Product Offering the Public Can Buy First—and It Feels Authentic to Meghan Herself
If buzz is true, Meghan will be joining a space already quite saturated with celebrity offerings.
It’s no secret that Meghan Markle loves a good glass of wine—after all, her former lifestyle blog, “The Tig,” was named in homage to the exclusive Italian Tignanello, her red wine of choice. As anticipation mounts for American Riviera Orchard—her upcoming lifestyle brand, announced in March and teased with a strawberry jam influencer campaign (and a dash of raspberry jam and dog biscuit controversy)—a new product is emerging as a possible moneymaker for the company: rosé wine, Tatler reports.
The Sussexes enjoying a drink while on a royal visit in 2018.
The Daily Mail reports that the wine will be the first item available for the public to buy, and, “to complement the reported wine launch, it’s expected that other products in the initial tranche of releases will be drinking and serving ware, bar essentials, and other products related to hosting and entertaining,” the outlet reports. “We can expect items in classic, but expensive, style.”
American Riviera Orchard is said to be rooted in authenticity and reflect what Meghan loves in her own California lifestyle, so this product launch makes sense. Rosé is the drink “which she previously revealed to be her drink of choice,” Tatler reports. “She even drank it on her first date with Prince Harry at Soho House back in 2016.” The publication added that “Meghan is also reported to enjoy a frosé, which is made by freezing wine and blending it into a slushie with strawberries and icing sugar for added sweetness.”
Fifty batches of strawberry jam from American Riviera Orchard were sent out earlier this year to celebrities, influencers, and Meghan's friends.
For the aforementioned strawberry jam, Meghan reportedly made it from fruit grown in the gardens of her home in Montecito that she shares with Harry and their kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Perhaps, if a frosé turns up in the product offerings, it will include strawberries from the garden, as well?
As we know, the celebrity booze market is oversaturated—from Cameron Diaz to George Clooney to Brad Pitt, many A-listers have their own alcohol brands. Tatler calls the rosé move “a strategic decision from Meghan” and adds that “Wine is a much more lucrative business than jam.” There’s certainly money to be made in this space—Tatler reports that the most well-known celebrity wine, the Armand de Brignac Champagne, was owned by Jay-Z until he sold a 50 percent stake to LVMH’s wines and spirits arm Moët Hennessy for a reported $300 million.
If reports are true, Meghan would be the latest in a large crop of celebrities who have jumped eagerly into the lucrative alcohol space.
And the rosé appears to be just the first of many products American Riviera Orchard will launch. One look at its trademark application from earlier this year shows the lifestyle brand’s reach extends to almost every corner one can think of, and The Daily Mail reports that, in due course, the company will sell bedding pillows, soaps, home decor, fragrance, cookbooks, and cookie mixes and, if demand is high enough for the product, American Riviera Orchard might translate its online business to brick-and-mortar stores, as well.
We’ll drink to that!
