CELLAR Club: Fall Release Letter

We all survived the early “holiday season” this year, and now the Fall CELLAR Club Box is coming at the perfect time to refresh your stock. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The weather cools, and we start opening deeper wines to complement the hearty, comfort foods of the season. In this quarter’s box, we’ve brought a couple elegant and inviting wines that evoke the flavors and feelings of this time of year. I am excited to share this quarter’s CELLAR Club Wines: 2019 J-P Marchand “Hautes Côtes de Nuits” Burgundy and 2019 Lahat Wines “Adom” Red Blend.  I am excited to finally be able to include authentic Burgundy Pinot Noir at the Club level. We have been working with the long established French winery Domaine Jean-Philippe Marchand for almost five years. I was able to visit the winery, its dedicated kosher winemaking facility, and some of the vineyards a few years ago. I was struck by the intense flavor and aromatics of this blend. Turns out, the vineyard is located only a stone’s throw from some of the most prestigious Pinot Noir vineyards in the world (which are also recognized by the UN as World Heritage Sites). These wines are naturally limited by the small size of the vineyard, and also by French law, which only permits a limited volume of wine to be produced in a given harvest (in order to maintain quality and prevent dilution from inferior fruit). This is an exciting, powerful wine that can be enjoyed while young, but will really turn on the magic after a few years in the cellar. The Hautes Côtes de Nuits provides a glimpse of what you can expect from the higher end versions.  I am very proud and excited to continue our partnership with Itay Lahat, of Lahat Wines in the North of Israel. His understated nature, and habit of under promising and over delivering, is consistently reflected in his wines. I am continually impressed by the precise, flavorful wines, with clean lines and fresh flavors. He is making wine without the need to fit into an international style, but rather to highlight the myriad strengths of the incredible terroir of the Upper Western Galilee. The world of Israeli wine is lucky to have him as a behind the scenes ambassador.  The 2019 Adom Red Blend is another great example of the potential of Israeli terroir. The wine is a fruit driven, spicy, and elegant blend that is well balanced with moderate alcohol. The components of the blend were aged for 16 months in very large previously used barrels. This approach uses oak as a harmonizing element for the two varietals, as opposed to an avenue for externally imposed flavor. Feel free to enjoy this wine upon release, and try to stash away your other bottle for as long as you can hold yourself back.   As always, we greatly appreciate your loyalty and hope to continue to honor you with the best and highest quality wines from around the world.  Sign Up for the CELLAR Wine Club Here