Bethenny Frankel is vivacious. I’m on a Zoom call with the former Real Housewives of New York City star, and my face hurts from smiling so much. It’s refreshing to know she’s exactly as she appears on TikTok—bold, and unafraid to cue up funny, telling anecdotes and advice. But we’re not here to just shoot the breeze, we’re here to talk about her newest endeavor: Forever Young Rosé wine, a partnership between her, nightlife and restaurant developer Seth Greenberg, benchmark Provencal wine estate Château Roubine, and winemaker Valérie Rousselle.
(Château Roubine dates back to the beginning of the 14th century and is one of the 18 estates classified as Cru Classé in Côtes de Provence. In other words, it produces that pale pink, delicious French rosé we all know and love, so it’s legit.)
“I don’t ever do anything unnaturally,” Frankel tells StyleCaster. She knew Greenberg from her cocktail waitressing days in Boston, when he ran club M-80 and nights ended with “Forever Young” playing to tipsy patrons. And now, here we are—from Skinnygirl margaritas to rosé wine sourced from Provence.
Here, Frankel talks about the wine, her TV viewing habits, and the new cast of RHONY.
You are the OG of “celebrity” alcohol with Skinnygirl Margarita. How does it feel to launch this new venture when you were one of the first?
Skinnygirl Margarita was the fastest growing liquor brand in history, so they can all get outta my way ’cause I paved the way for all of them [laughs]. But yeah, I don’t feel like some imposter busting through here. I was the one, that Kool-Aid guy that busted through first. So everybody from George Clooney to Rande Gerber followed in my footsteps … Cameron Diaz and Avaline, all these wines, can get behind me. I’m like, I am doing this. It’s funny looking back, because nobody—like, celebrities did not take pictures with alcohol. You did not want to get published holding alcohol. And then all of a sudden, everybody wanted the Skinnygirl money. Well, except Diddy. Diddy gets credit. Sammy Hagar gets credit and that’s really it. The other ones are small. All of them came after me and they all know. I’m coming back in and taking what’s mine.
Who is this rosé for?
Everyone. So this Château makes some of the best wine. [The bottle] has got this gorgeous glass closure and it looks gorgeous and it tastes amazing. So it’s an elevated taste and it’s an elevated wine. It’s also for the woman who has come with me and it’s forever. You know, you’re maybe not the wild one that you were when you were younger, but you enjoy a great glass of wine but you don’t take yourself too seriously.
Let’s say you have a little too much rosé, what now? What do you, personally, eat or drink after a night of drinking?
First, it’s a hydration packet in my drink. Maybe a BIOLYTE, maybe an LMNT. Something. I would hydrate, I would get an IV, honestly, if we’ve gone severe. Food-wise, I’d probably wanna make something sort of healthy, so probably like an egg-white omelet. White rice, a big potato, and like, bed. But here’s the thing—with this rosé, it’s elevated; I’m definitely not the same age as when I created Skinnygirl.
Switching gears, are you planning to watch the new Real Housewives of New York City?
I don’t even know. I didn’t know… what is it? Did it start?
It starts in July, I believe…
I mean, I am happy for them, and I’m sending luck. I think it’s a great idea to refresh and revamp. Yep. Wonderful. I’m just not, I don’t watch Housewives except for, for my podcast. And I’m not that interested in… you know what it is? There could be a new crop that wants to watch new Housewives. Like of the younger generation. But it’s like me with my friends I have; my circle is closed. My Housewives circle club is closed. I know all the people I wanna know… I could live off of NeNe [Leakes] and Shereé [Whitfield] [of Real Housewives of Atlanta] for the rest of my life and be fine. And Teresa [Guidice of Real Housewives of New Jersey]. I got my Mount Rushmore group, and I don’t… I’m not accepting new housewives at this time [laughs].
Besides reality TV, what are you watching? Just generally?
I’ve been watching, let’s see… Defending Jacob. I’m watching Succession. I watched Yellowstone. I’m re-watching The Wire, going back old-school. I just finished This is Us. I watch anything that is like crime, like Broadchurch. Anything that is like British crime. I love digging deep. I started watching, I don’t know why they would make two shows about the same murder story, but Hulu’s Candy. I did that. I’m not doing the other one now [Love & Death]. I, sorry. I don’t need to do that. Mayor of Kingstown. I mean, I’m constantly looking for a new good, deep show.
What advice would you give to someone who’s trying to become an entrepreneur like you?
You gotta get on the road and you gotta try to do one thing. Well, you have to be focused, you have to understand it’s such a crazy landscape now. And everybody’s an entrepreneur now because of shows like Shark Tank. Yeah. Which doesn’t really show how you get there. They just show you being there. So it’s a little challenging for people. You have to work so much harder than you could ever imagine. And it’s not, it’s internal too. You’re just constantly on the case and miss nothing and be smarter than most people. And it’s… it’s not for everyone. But if, if you are that bitch, then it’s for you.
Jonathan Borge
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