One of my completely random gossip-obsessions is twofold: too many celebrities have launched their own makeup lines and more celebrities should do their own liquor/beer/wine lines. If you’re a celebrity and you’re looking for a cool side-hustle, don’t do a makeup line. It’s been done a million times over and Rihanna and Kylie Jenner did it best (or theirs are the most profitable). But celebrities doing their own alcohol lines? It’s always a good idea. Many celebrities invest in tequila companies or vodka companies or maybe they’re just the face of some established alcohol brand. So… will the Duke and Duchess of Sussex eventually have their own Napa Valley wine label?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could become the next couple to join the ranks of other celebrities to open their own winery in Santa Barbara, as they settle into their new lives away from the royal family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to the premier Southern California wine-making region last year and after landing multi-million dollar megadeals with Netflix and Spotify locals say this could be their next great venture. Speaking from their $14.5million mansion earlier this month, the pair revealed they were eager to ‘live authentically’ and get back ‘down to basics’ at their home.
Locals and winemakers in and around the couple’s new hometown believe Montecito could be the best place for Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, to launch their own Brangelina-style wine label. Insiders say the move would make a lot of sense if they were to add a winery to their $14million mansion. The idea could especially pique the interest of Meghan, who is also known to be a huge wine fan and named her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig after her favorite red wine. The couple even served a Californian red wine – Domaine Eden pinot noir – at their May 2018 wedding in Windsor Castle.
There is already a growing trend for top tier Hollywood celebrities to get involved in the wine industry. Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Jon Bon Jovi have all done well in the wine industry as well as Brad and Angelina.
Local resident Penny Bianchi, who lives next door to Harry and Meghan interviewer and friend, Oprah Winfrey, said: ‘Investing in wine is pretty common in Montecito. I’ve got a bunch of friends who have wineries, I even know a couple of people who have vineyards on their own properties. It seems to be a very popular thing to do around here so I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry and Meghan did the same. Montecito has so many great things to speak of and the wine industry is one of them. It would be really interesting and cool if they started a wine label of their own.’
I know this is just random gossip from the Mail, but… I actually would not be surprised at all if Meghan and Harry invested in a vineyard or an established wine label, or even started their own. Their existing property isn’t big enough for a real vineyard, but clearly, there’s land for sale and I would assume there are vineyards for sale in the area too. I don’t really see them doing the Brangelina/Chateau Miraval thing where they live on an estate with a functioning winery and vineyard. I could definitely see them investing in someone else’s project though. And why not? A Sussex-branded – or Archewell-branded – wine label could do big business.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’d certainly buy a bottle from a famed oenophile such as Meghan! And every penny that goes into sustaining their existence outside of the brutal RF and supporting Archewell gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me…
PS Charles makes organic cider, but I’ll bet we’ll hear the RRs scream about how the Sussex wine label is ‘disgracing the family’…
And I think Sandringham sells gin. Or maybe that’s BP.
The same rag that tried to falsely claim that Meghan had “banned” Harry from drinking alcohol is now trying to rile up their vein-popping readers into thinking the Sussexes will be making money by creating their own wine. If they do it, you can be sure there will be a chorus of screams about how “greedy” and “unroyal” it is, meanwhile Betty and Chuck are slinging beer and gin. I would totally have a glass of whatever Meghan’s having because she is clearly drinking white tears.
White tears! Sign me up for two bottles of Salty White Tears!
If they do go into the wine business maybe meghan will make some tignanello wine. I’ve been dying to taste some!
Totally off topic but Meghan looks great in that dress and that dress looks great on Meghan.
That look is #goals
Cameron Diaz’s Avaline is really good!! She did her research.
lol what? That avaline wine is consistently rated very poorly.
Well, I’ve actually purchased and enjoyed it. Have you even ever tasted it?
An opportunity to support H&M and drink yummy wine at the same time? I’m in!
Everything the touch turns to gold because their fans are actual fans who want to support them. They could start a plumbing company and I would start flushing toys down my toilet just so I could support the plumbing company.
LOL!
I go up to that area to wine taste all the time, it’s beautiful and very very uncrowded, unlike Northern CA, and I like it WAY more. The wineries are all mostly small, family owned, and charming. It’s also SOOOO MUCH cheaper then No. Cal. (If you want to see pics look up Santa Ynez Valley Wineries) My husband and son bought me a membership to a winery for my 50th birthday and we get to go up and visit the private winery, have private tastings, and get discounts on the wine. LET ME TELL YOU. If Harry and Meghan start one you best believe -if I can afford it- I will not only join, I will take pics and review it ALLLL for you, lol. I adore them both.
Oh myyyyy. I feel jealous ! Not to mention it sounds like you live in laurel canyon, my fave place.
First off, this is hilarious to me because it’s so random. “some people in Santa Barbara have vineyards on their property, so Harry and Meghan could do that too.” I can’t believe one of Oprah’s neighbors actually talked to the Mail, but what she said was so harmless and general that its funny. “Sure, lots of people here do that, they might too.”
I would be surprised to see a Sussex wine, but they probably would invest in an organic vineyard. I think a lot of their moves like that are going to be more as investors and less as doing their own.
this is soo random. sounds to me like the daily mail just itching to write something – anything – about h&m
They have bored reporters out there looking for something to write about and the wine industry is HUGE there. Wine tastings all over Santa Barbara, and wine vans to take you on tasting up into the valleys. etc. It would be hard not to notice it, lol. So yeah, I bet reporters came up with this sozzled at a tasting.
It’s random and yet probably not off base. This really does sound like something they would do. And there’s plenty of social justice issues surrounding grapes and wine production that they could easily find (or start) an ethical winery for jumping into the game on brand.
I mean, it’s always a possibility. They are clearly investing in products and businesses they believe in.
I know they don’t have room for a vineyard on their property but I could totally see Meghan growing fruit and vegetables on her estate. I think the property already came with lemon trees. It probably also has orange and avocado trees too.
Most boutique vineyards don’t grow enough for production – you grow what you can, add in what you harvest with your neighbors, then bottle and label the combined efforts as your own. This is how all but the largest growers do it…
Conformation yet again that all the stories about meghan and harry came straight from kensington palace. Ever since they left the gossip mill has been turning incredibly slow
The Daily Mail writing random articles about what the Sussexes might do that include interviews with “neighbors” is their way of continuing the harassment of the Sussexes. Many people will see this as harmless. But remember the Sussexes have both commented that because of the volume of mainly speculative coverage. They were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. This is a tactic the tabloids to erase or undermine what is real about the couple and to normalize the focus on gossipy speculation as opposed to their work.
It definitely is a random piece of gossip. It’s not even the usual “sources close to the couple” or “royal sources” that the Mail usually employs, it’s just “well this is what people in their area are doing so they *could* do it too!”. The Sussex leaks for the Mail have well and truly dried up.
I think it’s a possibility because they LOVE doing things that the royals are already doing, but better. And they love to make a point of it too. So it would be another catch-22 moment for the haters where they’ll need to perform Simon Biles levels of mental gymnastics to explain why the Queen and Charles can sell alcohol.
@Lemons, your emphasis on “LOVE doing things that the royals are already doing” is very confusing to me, what exactly do you mean? Can you point to some of these “things” the Sussexes have copied from other royals?
I agree, Babs – it seems like the other way round; H&M kill it with their Insta and Netflix, so the Keens have to set up a pitiful YouTube channel a decade too late, and so on and so on.
Meghan’s children’s book, fashion collaborations, editing magazines, using titles in their “private” ventures etc. Even Edward’s foray into the entertainment business.
I love that they do this because it’s done so well. They are able to promote a completed project and get awareness to it much better than the RF could with any of their senior members. The BM is always up in arms, but there’s always some previous precedent that has been done or attempted by another royal. The hypocrisy is plain to see.
It is so funny how no one has any sources close to Harry and Meghan so they’re all just throwing out missives into the universe hoping something sticks while trying to reach their headline quotas. Well i guess this is a better “story” than the one from last week about how Meghan being double jointed means the baby is coming early or the one from the other day about a 11k old skeleton being found down the street from their house lol
Real talk though: i dont see them ever selling objects with the Archewell brand. That brand seems very tied up in the pathos of passionate communities that is supposed to run through the work of fheir foundation and the content they will be creating, so despite the Windsor family tradition of slapping their names on gin and beer i cant see H&M doing that with Archewell om wine. They might invest though but lbr this isn’t a real story or even a rumor.
Yes…came to say the exact same thing. The idea of an Archewell wine is *ugh*…! If this info has any truth, I would hope that they invest all they want but to avoid mixing charities with products. It’s just too incongruous; imagine enjoying a Red Cross, World Vision or UNICEF wine — no matter how good it tastes, I would feel some cognitive dissonance there.
The first sentence says “could”. That tells me the DM doesn’t know and are speculating.
I think the Daily Mail has a set of topic chips they toss into the air several times a day. They, then make up a story about the chip(s) that land face up. It doesn’t matter if the topics are related because they will thread them together and add the cost of the house, wedding date, Netflix and Spotify deals, their ages, date of Archie’s birth and another reminder Lady Monticeto is expected to arrive soon.
I love how they mention the $14 million dollar mansion twice in this article, like the house would naturally lead them to becoming vintners. But not the 16 bathrooms? With their connection to P&G, Harry and Meghan “could” develop their own line of toilet paper.
The desperation is real.
Indeed one of the perfect work, I have ever came across!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!
The Fail forgot to mention how many bathrooms are in the $14 million mansion.
They’re not going to “invest” in a vineyard. Full stop. As the very famous saying goes, the best way to have a million dollars in the wine business is start with ten million.
I know nothing about vineyards or the wine business— would be fascinated to hear more about the origins of this saying!
I’ve heard the same thing applied to inns and ski resorts 😂. Agricultural and tourism based products are so cyclical (wines/locations falling in and out of favor) and unpredictable (wildfires, drought, mudslides), it’s hard to consistently make $$$.
This just proves how very little understanding the DM and most Brits have of California geography or that the State is HUGE and stretches 1,040 miles up the coast from south end to north end. They probably think Napa Valley is right next to Hollywood, just like they think Montecito is a suburb of Los Angeles that’s right next to Hollywood. The truth is Santa Barbara is as far away from Los Angeles as Birmingham, England is from London.
Likewise, lacking geographical knowledge would go a long way in explaining why they write articles about Meghan not visiting her father when he “… now lives only 70 miles away from her.” They either don’t get that the Mexican border is 126 miles away from Los Angeles and therefore 226 miles from Santa Barbara or they’re trying to gaslight the British people into thinking Thomas Markle lives that close and Meghan is a big ‘B’ for not visiting him.
Well they take their cues from William. If I recall correctly, he graduated with a degree in geography, didn’t he?
I think they’re referring to the Santa Ynez valley vineyards that are near SB. Napa is not the only “wine country” in the state 😊
@ (The OG) Jan90067 … LOL! True, but the article made it seem like the Sussexes now lived in the winery mecca of California with vineyards on nearly every estate. And that one neighbor will never get an invitation for tea from Meghan. 🙂
Having a vineyard in my backyard is my dream. As to HM, this would be Royal-appropriate, no? Doesn’t the queen have her own jams, and what not? It’’d be fun watching royal reporters spin it.
Brad and Angelina’s wine is Chateau Miraval, not Marmont. 🙂 My dad actually bought some wine from that label and he’s a huuuuge oenophile so he doesn’t buy bad wine. I had some, it was good from what I could tell (I’m the kind of person who is like it tastes like wine?). The DM is just making theories up but I wouldn’t be surprised Meghan and Harry bought some shares in a vineyard. That is something you can do by the way. My dad owns some shares in a French vineyard, I forget where it is. They invite the investors every year to a summit meeting and they get a complimentary case of wine. I’m assuming Californian vineyards operate the same way. It makes more sense than starting their own vineyard/winery which is very time consuming and complicated. But if they did, you can bet it would be the most sustainable vineyard ever.
Can they please name their brand “Salty white tears?” I will buy the crap out of that!
Do it in Sonoma, miss Napa. Your fave Nicegirl was born and raised in the town in NorCal wine country. Sonoma County is so beautiful, 2legit, smaller, historic, again, beautiful, liberal, cooperative. Napa is more commercialized. Sonoma would treat Meghan like a Duchess! Omg this would bring me home in a heartbeat.
weird duplicate situation
I’m cringing to think of what wildfires will do to California this year with the drought and the heat. And obviously vineyards included. Positive energy sent to Cali CBers.
Maybe they’ll open a surf shop! I mean, they’re in California and Meghan gave Harry surf lessons and they probably have neighbors who like to surf.
Seriously the articles get lamer by the day.
The Fail never fails to take a cheap shot at Meghan…”her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig”. It’s not defunct you racist morons, she shut it down with this heartfelt message —
To all my Tig friends:
After close to three beautiful years on this adventure with you, it’s time to say goodbye to The Tig. What began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity. You’ve made my days brighter and filled this experience with so much joy. Keep finding those Tig moments of discovery, keep laughing and taking risks, and keep being “the change you wish to see in the world.”
Above all, don’t ever forget your worth – as I’ve told you time and time again: you, my sweet friend, you are enough.
Thank you for everything.
Xx
COULD. They’re really making this up as they go since they don’t have access.
There’s millions of things they COULD do, and the Daily Mail is publishing whichever but of speculation that will generate the most outrage hits.
Also, what makes then think they could open a winery in area zoned as residential?
Come on now.
My dad lives in Santa Barbara right on the Montecito border. He’s 93 and has no idea who Harry and Meghan are and thus has no idea where they live. It’s close enough that my brother wants to bring up one of his drones (from LA) to see what’s up. Does this mean that the DM might interview my dad for his opinion???????? Our house is definitely within a few miles of theirs which by DM standards makes Dad a neighbor.
Just think the Salty Isle and its RF could be basking in all that reflected glory. But no, they had to be asshats and run them out of the country all because of a little melanin.
Meghan breathe everyday, she might sell o² tanks as her next venture in her usd14 millions home.
Oh dont forget she might sell h²o too from her 16 bathrooms.
Oh please. Please let them do it and produce “champagne” wines. They can market it as Markle Sparkle.
I’ve been saying for awhile that they’re likely to buy a chateau with vineyard either in France or NZ!! I’m almost certain that they don’t plan to live in England so in coming years we’ll see them buying new property 😏there are plenty of established companies out there looking for new owners or investors so they’d have lots of options. I agree with others, I don’t see them labelling it archewellfoundation wine or something, I could see them settling up a new business company which probably has their daughters name on it