“Blessed be the fruit” did not quite relate to the latest news. While Hulu viewers in the US already have, and Channel 4 viewers will soon be left with their mouths open by the shock finale episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu has teamed up with wine cellar Lot18 to shock even more.

Together, Hulu and Lot18 released a selection of wines related to three of the most prominent characters from the TV adaptation to Margaret Atwood’s novel, which they then withdrew in less than 24 hours after a massive Twitter backlash. While the idea of releasing the wine might have been “under their eye” – excuse the terrible pun – it turned out to be an extremely bad decision.

Note the selection of tweets from the horrified public scattered throughout this article.

Handmaid’s Tale wine selection

As noted by the Telegraph, Lot18 came up with a tasty selection of varieties when planning their newest wine selection, interestingly with red wines for the handmaids themselves (remember their colourful outfits) and a tasty white for Commander Fred Waterford’s downtrodden wife, Serena Joy (because there’s no such thing as teal wine?).

Offred (played magnificently by Elisabeth Moss), Ofglen (equally well played by Alexis Bledel) and Serena Joy (definitely on a par with both and with Yvonne Strahovski in the role) appeared on the wine labels – the first two of which were, naturally coloured red, while the third was a stunning teal.

They also bore the name of the award-winning show and a fancy description for each wine.

As reported by NME, the wines were advertised on a webpage on Let18’s website, which disappeared hours later, after both Hulu and themselves received such incredibly bad backlash.

On Lot18’s now deleted page, they enthused that their novelty wines were the perfect thing to enjoy while watching the stories of these downtrodden women unfold on TV. They are also “ideal” for drinking as viewers contemplate the impossible futures of the characters involved.

Haven’t watched ‘The Handmaid’s Tale?’

For those who haven’t seen “The Handmaid’s Tale,” it is about a dystopian future where most women are no longer able to bear children.

This leads to the “commanders,” or more prominent men in Gilead society, being able to take on handmaids – basically female slaves and still able to procreate – to systematically rape and produce their children before being discarded.

Note that the names “Offred” and “Ofglen” relate to their new masters, in Moss’s character’s case, Fred Waterford (played by Joseph Fiennes) and in Bledel’s case, her commander whose first name is Glen. Even "worse," Ofglen is actually a lesbian who was ripped away from her wife and child. Once authorities discovered her LGBT leanings, she forcibly underwent a female genital mutilation operation.

"The Handmaid's Tale" also delves into such fancies as a young girl committing adultery, who, along with her illicit partner, had rocks tied to her feet before being thrown into a swimming pool to drown. Little tiny spoiler; in the finale, poor Serena Joy, married to one of the elite, lost a pinkie finger.

While this all might sound horrifying, “The Handmaid’s Tale” is gripping, enthralling and excellent viewing, beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted. However, the TV series is definitely not something to brand to a selection of wines.
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