When Sarah Jessica Parker settled in to sample and blend her new Provence rosé, "it was December, which was funny to be imagining the summer," she said. "Though a different summer than we're probably going to have."
We spoke with the actor, producer and designer today—at home like the rest of us—for the occasion of her new wine launch. Onscreen, you know her from Sex and the City and Divorce, but if you've been following her wine forays, you may have tried her Invivo X, SJP Sauvignon Blanc, launched this past fall. Parker has been a quick study ever since partnering with New Zealand winemakers Rob Cameron and Tim Lightbourne of Invivo (the "X, SJP" formulation is a nod to her signature, well, signature). The rosé, made from vineyards around St.-Tropez in collaboration with the Vins Chevron Villette estate, is available for purchase today via Wine.com.
In the time between the launch of the brand and the creation of the rosé, Parker has become more comfortable in the director's chair. "I've learned that the rules are not as steadfast as I thought and as I was worried about," she said. The Sauvignon Blanc, "was easier to work on because so much of it was learning and listening." This time, she brought more know-how and a sharper vision to the tasting table. "Part of it is memories of traveled places, and rosés that I've had that are just local, no-label [wines] in small villages in various parts of France."
After evaluating the wine's evolution in the months after fermentation and tackling the logistics of getting the wine from Provence to New York, the partners gathered for the moment of truth, the morning blend session when it all had to come together ("an interesting time to ponder drinking").
"In a way it seems daunting. That [Cameron and Lightbourne] bring a briefcase of this fluid and we're going to arrive at something we all feel good and excited about," Parker recalled. "We don't always agree—you know, palates are palates. Everyone is different. … It was a few hours and lots of backs and forths, and backs and forths.”
"But I think where we landed is very much where I hoped to be. It's slightly bigger, but it retains some of those immediately recognizable hallmarks of a rosé," she said. "Exuberant but complex."
To celebrate the new release, SJP will be hosting a livestreamed soirée on May 26 at 7 p.m. ET, and everyone's invited. Opening favorite bottles has been a welcome reprieve during stay-at-home, she told us. "We're a family that really just cooks all meals. This has been very different having kids home all day, so we are cooking all day long, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"So wine has been a little bit of a holiday during the meal. It's the easiest part: We have a corkscrew and that's it!" she laughed. "It's been a very nice companion during quarantine."
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