We Tried the Bottle of Wine From 'the Last of Us' Episode 3
Anybody keeping up with HBO's latest hit, "The Last of Us," experienced an emotional roller coaster flooded with love, loss, and, well, wine, while watching Sunday's third episode, "Long, Long Time."
The over-an-hour-long episode follows two secondary characters, Bill and Frank (played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, respectively), who we meet for the first time. Before Sunday's episode, their names were merely mentioned in passing and referred to as friends who would send signals on the radio in the form of 1980s hit singles if there was trouble looming in the post-apocalyptic Boston suburbs.
Bill, a self-described "survivalist," hides in his self-made bunker while the militant government agency, FEDRA, rounds up the citizens of their small town to ship them to Boston's Quarantine Zone in 2003. The government is attempting to move those who haven't been infected to safety just days after a fungal outbreak infiltrates the world and many of the humans inhabiting it, sending them into violent, rabid spirals with one goal in mind: Infect anyone you can find.
When the town is cleared, Bill breaks into Home Depot, the local grocery store, and a liquor store to round up supplies to secure his home and keep himself comfortable for whatever lies ahead. Bill also notably has a massive wine cellar in his home, so viewers understand he's somewhat of an expert.
Flash forward four years, and Bill is still alive, albeit alone, amid the apocalypse. Enter: Frank, another normal human being just trying to make it to safety. The other 10 people with whom he was traveling from Baltimore to Boston didn't make it this far.
Bill begrudgingly invites Frank inside for a shower and a meal during which they share their first bottle of wine: A Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages "Combe aux Jacques." (It appears there is no meal with which Bill does not enjoy a glass or two.)
"A man who knows to pair rabbit with a Beaujolais," Frank comments. He takes a sip, sits back in his chair, and loudly sighs, clearly enjoying what is probably his first sip in four years.
The two quickly find companionship and love with one another, and spend the next 16 years living alone together in the middle of an abandoned town 10 miles west of Boston.
That is until Frank gets sick and declares a day would be his last — and he wants to enjoy it. To celebrate, Bill cooks Frank the same meal they first shared together, complete with another bottle of the same Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages.
Sixteen years on from their first meeting, the men are still loving the Beaujolais as they share their last supper, leading the internet to wonder: "Is Bill's taste in wine as advanced as he makes it seem?" Turns out, it's not half-bad.
The red is described on Louis Jadot's website as "an easy-drinking wine made with high quality grapes grown in the southern part of Beaujolais." The description adds that there is a "light, fresh expression of Gamay."
Jadot says the wine pairs best with "hors d'oeuvres, mild cheeses, or poultry dishes" and that it is a "fruit-forward" wine with "expressive aromas and flavors of strawberries and black cherries with spice notes." (In the episode, Frank notably trades for strawberry seeds and grows some of the delicious fruit as a surprise for Bill.)
Insider reporters Rebecca Cohen and Eve Crosbie decided to try the wine on Thursday in their respective cities — Rebecca in New York and Eve in London.
While Rebecca is no sommelier, she happened to enjoy the light and fresh red, especially for the price point — she was able to get it delivered to Insider's office in New York City for $16.79.
As someone who typically does not reach for the red wine on the shelf, she thought it was easily drinkable and not too heavy. She could see herself pouring a glass for a charcuterie board night with friends or with a dinner of chicken or fish. She'd pick it up again from a liquor store if she were in a pinch.
As London is a few hours ahead, Eve Crosbie, an entertainment reporter over in Insider's UK office, was able to crack open her bottle of Beaujolais alongside a meal to experience it the way Bill and Frank do. However, as a vegetarian, she opted for linguine pasta cooked with fresh cherry tomatoes and garlic rather than a slow-cooked rabbit.
After scanning the shelves of a local supermarket, she was surprised to find that it's going even cheaper in the UK and retails at just £11 ($13.48). She was also delighted to find that the Beaujolais is vegan, which not all wines are, making it a safe bet when picking out something for a dinner party.
As someone who regularly does like splitting a bottle of red over dinner with friends, she was a little bit disappointed as this bottle of Burgundy wasn't anything special. Had she picked it off the shelf at random, there was nothing about it — aside perhaps from its price point — that would make her reach for it again.
That's not to say it's not very drinkable. It's also very dry — making it the perfect kind of wine to stir into sauces, which she ended up doing simply because she was making one. If you seek it out and aren't too taken with the taste, that's an ideal way to use it rather than pour it down the drain.
Ultimately, it wasn't the best red either Becca or Eve has ever had and it was quite forgettable, but it wasn't terrible. It's a little surprising that the showrunners for "The Last of Us" didn't opt to show Bill drinking a more premium wine, which — excuse the pun — would have paired better with his personality as a man of refined tastes.
We could perhaps put it down to the fact that he probably had some top-shelf stuff but didn't want to share it with Frank on their first meeting. Or maybe four years into the outbreak, Beaujolais was all he had left.
Not only were Bill and Frank enjoying a rather cheap bottle, but it also sat in a cellar for 20 years before they got to enjoy it the second time.
When asked whether the Beaujolais would still be good after 20 years, a sommelier who works in New York City said it's not even that good to begin with.
"That wine really isn't even very good in its youth, definitely would not age well!" the sommelier, who asked not to be named, told Insider over Instagram direct message.
While this wine wouldn't be great after 20 years, she suggested there are "definitely" others that would age well in that amount of time.
As for why HBO chose to feature this bottle? "It's inexpensive and easy to find so my guess was that it was just a last-minute purchase," she said.
After episode 3 of "The Last of Us" aired, fans far and wide began searching for the now-famous bottle of red.
Some were surprised to learn it's a real wine you can buy on pre-apocalyptic earth. Others were immediately "influenced" to try the wine because of the love for it in the show.
But some who have had a glass before were quick to diss Bill's taste.
"The most harrowing scene in The Last of Us was when Nick Offerman's character, with every wine shop at his disposal, served a Louis Jadot Beaujolais. You'd pray to be bitten," Telegraph columnist Ed Cumming wrote on Twitter.
Jadot has gotten in on the fun, tweeting, "Proud to have made a cameo on tonight's beautifully poignant episode of HBO's 'The Last of Us,'" Sunday night.
The account has also been quick to respond to fans sharing thoughts about their wine and encouraging positive sentiments toward it. They confirmed to one fan that it drinks well with "cheese, spicy food, and ... rabbit!"
Jadot told another fan who lauded the show's use of the bottle — and Bill's pouring skills — that HBO even got the 2002 label on their bottle right, despite filming in 2021 and 2022.
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