Meghan Markle's Wine Label Is Here: Is It Any Good?
As Ever has released a Napa Valley Brut sparkling wine. Here is what is in the bottle, what it costs, and how it stacks up against England’s own fizz.
There is a new bottle on the As Ever shelf, and this one has bubbles. On 3 September 2026, the Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle brand released its first sparkling wine, the As Ever Napa Valley Brut, arriving just over a week after Meghan and Prince Harry landed at Birmingham Airport to begin an extended stay in England. The timing alone made royal-watchers sit up.
It is a proper proposition rather than a novelty add-on: a 2021 vintage made from the two classic Champagne grapes, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, produced using the traditional méthode champenoise and priced at $89 a bottle, sold not on the main As Ever site but through a dedicated shop, wine.asever.com.
So is it any good, and how does a Napa sparkling wine measure up against England’s own celebrated fizz? Here is everything worth knowing, verified against the brand’s own pages.
A brut worth toasting: what’s in the bottle
The As Ever Napa Valley Brut, sold on the label as the Napa Valley Reserve Brut, is built from the same two grapes that underpin most great Champagne and English sparkling wine: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It is made using méthode champenoise, the traditional process in which a wine’s fizz comes from a second fermentation inside the bottle, rather than being added afterwards.
As Ever describes the tasting notes as gentle green apple and pear, with accents of citrus and white peach and a subtle hint of starfruit, finishing crisp and balanced. It is a 2021 vintage, and it arrives in the brand’s signature matte black bottle with a gold-embossed logo and gilded detailing, a world away from the soft, cream-labelled jam jars that first made As Ever famous.
A single bottle costs $89. There is also a three-bottle launch bundle at $165, roughly $55 a bottle, and a wine-and-wooden-gift-crate option at $127. It is a considerably higher price point than the brand’s rosé or Sauvignon Blanc, positioning the Brut as the flagship of the As Ever wine range.
From rosé to reserve: As Ever’s wine story so far
Wine has been part of As Ever’s story since 2025, when the brand released its very first alcohol product, a 2023 Napa Valley rosé, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, mourvèdre, grenache and syrah retailing around $30 a bottle. It was a natural next step for a brand that began, as As Ever’s own story tells it, with jam made from fruit in the Duchess’s own garden.
A 2024 vintage of the rosé followed at $35, alongside a 2024 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, also $35. The Napa Valley Reserve Brut, launched on 3 September 2026, is the collection’s first sparkling wine and its most ambitious release yet, a méthode champenoise brut taking far longer to make than a still wine.
Taken together, the releases sketch a brand moving steadily upmarket, from a $12 jar of raspberry spread to an $89 bottle of traditional-method sparkling wine in a little over a year.
How to buy it, and where it can’t go
Wine.asever.com operates as its own storefront, separate from the main As Ever site that sells jams, honeys and candles. Shoppers must confirm they are 21 or older before browsing, and a signature from someone 21 or over is required on delivery, since the site will not ship to a P.O. box.
Shipping is currently unavailable to five states, Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Utah, owing to state alcohol laws, and As Ever offers no international shipping, so British admirers cannot have a bottle sent direct to a UK address. Orders are capped at twelve bottles, shipping is a flat $20 for up to that amount, and there are tiered discounts of 10, 15 and 20 per cent on orders over $100, $200 and $400. Once placed, orders cannot be cancelled, changed or returned.
A Napa toast, poured from a very British address
There is something rather poetic about the timing. The Napa Valley Reserve Brut arrived just over a week after Meghan and Prince Harry touched down at Birmingham Airport as private citizens, reportedly settling into a home in the Cotswolds, with Archie and Lilibet enrolled at a private school nearby. Reports also link the visit to preparations around the 2027 Invictus Games, due to be held in Birmingham.
The Sussexes are understood to have kept their homes in Montecito and Portugal too, so this is not framed as a permanent relocation. But for a brand built on a Californian sensibility, launching its most serious wine yet just as its founder returns to English soil is a neat piece of scene-setting, however accidental, and sits at exactly the crossing point Court & Capital exists to cover.
How it measures up against England’s own sparkling wine
England has spent four decades building a sparkling wine reputation to rival Champagne itself, using the same méthode champenoise process on similar chalky soils. Nyetimber, founded in West Sussex in 1988, proved English fizz could compete at the top table, while Chapel Down in Kent, now the country’s largest producer, poured the sparkling wine served at the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Camel Valley in Cornwall became the first English wine producer to hold a royal warrant, one of Queen Camilla’s own selections, covered in our round-up of the wines the royals love.
Set against that backdrop, the As Ever Brut is a genuine point of comparison rather than an imitation. It uses the identical traditional method and a near-identical grape blend to England’s best houses, but Napa’s warmer climate produces riper, softer fruit than the cooler vineyards of Sussex, Kent or Cornwall. At $89, it sits close to a well-regarded English vintage cuvée, making it an interesting bottle to set alongside a Nyetimber or a Chapel Down.
Is it any good? What early tastings say
Reaction has been a genuinely mixed and interesting read, no bad thing for a wine this closely watched. Some tasters have praised a wine that is light, crisp and food-friendly, with good depth of flavour that lets its stone-fruit notes come through cleanly. More exacting trade critics have noted a touch more warmth on the finish than a classic vintage Champagne or English sparkling wine typically shows, a trait often traced to Napa’s sunnier growing conditions rather than any fault in the winemaking.
That difference in style, rather than any shortfall in quality, is the headline finding. A brut built on riper Californian fruit was always going to taste different to one grown on English chalk. Taken on its own terms, it has earned a warm and largely appreciative reception.
The rest of the As Ever cellar
The Brut does not stand alone. As Ever’s still-wine range includes a 2024 Napa Valley Rosé and a 2024 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, each priced at $35 and available through the same wine.asever.com storefront, under the same age-verification and shipping rules as the Brut. Both continue the brand’s understated, minimal-label aesthetic, extending the same quiet-luxury sensibility that runs through its jams and candles into the wine rack.
Together, the three wines give the range genuine breadth: a crisp still white, a fruit-forward rosé, and now a flagship sparkling wine capable of anchoring a proper celebration.
Why it’s worth raising a glass to
Whatever one makes of the tasting notes, the Napa Valley Brut marks a genuine step up for As Ever, from pantry staples to a wine made using the same painstaking method that produces the world’s finest Champagne and England’s own award-winning fizz. It is a confident, well-presented bottle, arriving as its founder settles, for now, back on this side of the Atlantic.
It is worth trying with an open mind, and perhaps pouring alongside an English sparkling wine to taste the difference for yourself. Browse more of our British Living stories for further pours worth toasting.
Frequently asked questions
What is As Ever’s Napa Valley Brut?
As Ever’s first sparkling wine, a 2021 vintage made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay using the traditional méthode champenoise process. It launched on 3 September 2026 as the brand’s flagship wine release.
How much does the As Ever Brut cost?
A single bottle costs $89. It is also sold as a three-bottle launch bundle for $165, roughly $55 a bottle, and as a single bottle with a wooden gift crate for $127.
Where can you buy As Ever wine?
Through a dedicated storefront, wine.asever.com, separate from the main As Ever site selling jams, honeys and candles, with its own checkout, age verification and shipping rules.
Does As Ever wine ship to the UK?
No. As Ever does not currently offer international shipping, so the Brut cannot be sent to a UK address; it is only available to buyers with a US delivery address.
Which US states can’t get As Ever wine shipped?
Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Utah, due to those states’ alcohol-shipping laws. A signature from someone 21 or older is required for delivery everywhere else.
What other wines does As Ever sell?
A 2024 Napa Valley Rosé and a 2024 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, each $35, plus earlier vintages of the rosé that introduced the brand to wine in 2025.
Is As Ever wine good?
Early reviews are mixed but largely positive: many tasters praise its crisp, fruit-forward style, while some trade critics note it runs slightly warmer on the finish than classic cool-climate Champagne, a style difference rather than a flaw.
Who makes As Ever’s wine?
Its wines are produced in Napa Valley from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes using méthode champenoise, the same technique used by Champagne houses and England’s leading sparkling wine producers.
Prices, shipping states and availability are correct as of September 2026 and may change with each release; for the current range and policies see wine.asever.com directly. Please enjoy responsibly, for over-21s only.
