Meghan Markle’s As Ever Launches First Alcohol Product

Here’s some news to raise a glass to—Meghan Markle’s As Ever lifestyle brand is expanding into the alcohol market, releasing its first rosé on July 1.

After selling out its initial product drop in 45 minutes on April 2, the Duchess of Sussex’s company was back for drop No. 2 on June 20, which included six products from the first drop and two new products. Instead of offering raspberry spread as the company did in the first product offering, the seasonal flavor of the spread this time around was apricot; similarly, instead of offering the limited-edition wildflower honey with honeycomb, this time As Ever offered orange blossom honey.

And there will be no monthslong brand pause between offerings this time around—As Ever’s wine will be available to shop in less than two weeks’ time to kick off July, which a source close to the matter said would be “just in time for summer entertaining.” 

On June 20, As Ever posted a photo of Meghan in a white dress on a tree swing with the caption, “No more sleeps!” When she announced the summer drop on her personal Instagram Story on June 16, the Duchess of Sussex wrote that “So much love has gone into this…and I can’t wait to share it with you.” On June 3, the brand teased new offerings, writing on the company Instagram page that it would be offering “a few NEW things we can’t wait to show you,” encouraging customers to “get excited.”

At the TIME100 Summit in New York City in April—the same month that As Ever sold out its products in under an hour—Meghan said, “After a year of work and development and manufacturing, we had a feeling there would be some buzz surrounding it, but 45 minutes was not something I could have anticipated.”

Speaking with guest Tina Knowles on the June 3 episode of her “Confessions of a Female Founder” podcast, Knowles told Meghan, “It takes a long time with products. You have to test them, and then you’ve got to, a lot of times, go all the way and start all over again,” to which Meghan replied, “I know, trust me.”

Meghan continued, “You can say, ‘Oh, I made this in my house.’…I’m going, ‘I just picked these strawberries, and it’s so great! Look, I just put a little bit of sugar and some Meyer lemon,’ and you try to scale that up and you’re wanting to manage expectations, but you want to share the thing you’ve worked so hard on.”

Speaking to Knowles, she added, “Are we going to replenish and sell out again in an hour, or is that annoying as a customer? I’m looking at it saying—just pause. That happened. Let’s wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need.”

In April, Meghan hinted at As Ever’s brand expansion, telling Inc., “I hope that people see that reflected in whatever it is that I’m creating and putting out there. It’s just an extension of me.” And Meghan has long enjoyed wine—after all, when she launched her former lifestyle blog The Tig 11 years ago in 2014, she named it so after her favorite wine, Tignanello.

Authenticity seems to be at the core of As Ever—which Meghan said is an extension of her work with The Tig, which she shuttered in 2017 ahead of marrying Prince Harry the next year. Speaking at the TIME100 Summit in April, the Duchess of Sussex said that she was “the happiest I’ve ever been. To have a partner and a husband who is so supportive and have healthy kids who are so joyful—I never would have imagined at this point I would feel so happy and grateful, and I really do.”