Issa Rae Launches New Viarae Prosecco Line

Issa Rae just launched her new prosecco, Viarae!

The Italian drink “represents some of my best memories,” Rae emotionally told the crowd at the launch event for her new prosecco in partnership with E. & J. Gallo Winery. “It was first introduced to me at a moment when I didn’t know that everything was going to change for me.”

Rae told Wine Enthusiast that in the early days of “Insecure,” she met up with the show’s pilot director, Melina Matsoukas. Matsoukas proceeded to order a glass of prosecco before their meal.

“I was like, ‘What’s that?’” Rae recalled. “She said, ‘You’ll see.’”

That encounter started Rae’s love of sparkling wine. It is now considered her signature drink. And she’s so well known for ordering it that the “Insecure” writers worked it into the show, making it the show’s main character Issa Dee’s go-to drink order.

“The bubbles are invigorating,” Rae said of the drink. “There’s just something about the sparkling nature that feels festive.”

She also feels that prosecco has a more approachable and less stuffy feel than champagne. Friends started asking her to recommend a favorite brand, which gave her the idea to launch her own.

“I’ve been doing this for three years, working with different companies and trying to find the right match,” Rae said.

She was adamant about making prosecco from Italy with 100 percent Glera grapes. “Because that’s what means the most for me and is authentic to me,” she explained.

Rae added that prosecco is a lifestyle and that she wants to “tell stories around that lifestyle.”