Post Malone’s Maison No. 9 rosé wins Tesco listing

Having successfully built the brand in the US, American rapper Post Malone has won a nationwide listing at UK Tesco stores for his southern French rosé, Maison No. 9.

In line with the current global thirst for pale pink, bone-dry rosé, Maison No. 9 2020 is a Méditerranée IGP made from 45% Grenache, 25% Cinsault, 15% Syrah and 15% Merlot.

On sale from 3 June in Tesco stores across the UK, the 75cl bottle is priced at £19. Larger formats of the rosé are available via the brand’s website, priced at £44.99 for the magnum and £118.99 for the Jeroboam, with distribution from E&J Gallo.

The rosé was created in partnership with Post Malone’s entrepreneur friend, James Morrissey of Global Brand Equities, and music manager Dre London.

The trio created the wine by working closely with vintner Alexis Cornu of Provence winery group MDCV, based close to St. Tropez, with Malone making frequent trips to France while on tour in 2019.

Its name is inspired by Malone’s favourite tarot card, the Nine of Swords, which represents overcoming challenges.

The wine is housed in a tall bottle with an elongated neck and a glass stopper shaped like a castle turret in a nod to the medieval castle close to the MDCV base.

The pale pink rosé is said to offer aromas of “ripe pineapple, pear and strawberry”, and has “a clean, crisp finish”, making it a versatile wine for food.

The 2019 vintage of the on-trend rosé proved a sell-out success when it launched in the US last June – 50,000 bottles of Maison No. 9 were sold on the Vivino app in a two-day pre-sale, making it the fastest-selling launch of a wine in history.

A limited release in the UK last December saw the wine sell out in five days. According to Malone, his southern French pink is “a serious wine for when you want to get a little fancy, that doesn’t take itself too seriously”.

“Wine snobs can look down on those trying to learn about the category, that’s not cool,” he added. The brand is being marketed as an “affordable luxury” for everyday celebrations.

Malone isn’t the first celebrity to take an interest in rosé. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been making Provence pink at Château Miraval since 2011, and in 2017, American rocker Jon Bon Jovi launched Languedoc rosé Hampton Water in collaboration with his son Jesse and winemaker Gérard Bertrand.

Last summer pop princess Kylie Minogue entered the game with a pale pink of her own from France, while Snoop Dogg and Cameron Diaz have also recently released rosés, and George Clooney is in the process of buying a Provence estate.

Click here for our round-up of ten celebrity-owned rosés worth seeking out, from Sir Ian Botham’s English pink to Sting’s Tuscan rosé.

An in-depth look at the latest developments within the rosé category appears in the June issue of the drinks business.