Lewis Cellars Wine Tasting at Wine Watch with Special Guest Dennis Bell

“Mr. Mel Dick asked me about 18 years ago what wines I like to drink.” I told him “I like to drink the wines my friends make.” “Wine is more personal to me. I don’t seek out what new wine might get a 96 point scores for there are a ton of great wines.

Stylistically I like some better than others and in my portfolio there is room for all different styles as long as they are well made with the integrity and effort of the winemaker.” - Jimmy Mancbach

I would agree with the late great Jimmy that there is a unique connection with the wine when you know the person who’s sweat and passion went into producing it.  Wine is nature and human perception of an art form that is as ancient as our society. 

We are happy to have our friend Dennis Bell here from Lewis Cellars here to show some of the newest releases from one of our favorite wineries from Napa Valley.  The only problem is we are already almost out of the two Reserve releases from Lewis so you may not want to wait too long to respond to this e-mail if you want the 2015 Reserve Chardonnay or the 2014 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  I have already set aside a few bottles of each for the tasting so those of you that can make it tonight will at least get to try them. 

This tasting is limited to 24 tasters and the fee for this event is $150 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Lewis Cellars Wine Tasting at Wine Watch
with Special Guest Dennis Bell
Thursday, May 4, 2017
7:30 PM

Lewis Chardonnay Napa 2015
Price: $60.00      Sale $52.80         Case $612
(Available)

This wine is still very young but is always the best to drink upon release of all the Lewis Chardonnay.  A good amount of ripe rich tree fruits on the nose, Bosc pear and Fuji apple with delicious Crème carmel, nutmeg and hazelnut spice on the nose opening up nicely with 45 minutes in the glass.  Thickly textured and a slightly oily/buttery/silky texture, a full throttle California Chardonnay but has a firm hand of acidity and subtle minerality bringing complexity and length to this delicious wine.  1,800 cases produced.  Finish 45+  Most Excellent

Lewis Chardonnay Russian River 2015
Price: $60.00      Sale $52.80         Case $612
(Available)

Blazing tropical fruit, exotic spices and sexy ripe citrus come together in this tangerine dream. Like a beach volleyball Olympian, the wine has explosive power plus tremendous depth and range on the palate. Richness and precision are continually on point, and the wine sets up high in the mouth before stretching out in a tanned and impossibly long-legged, leesy finish.  1,500 cases produced

2014 Lewis Alecs’ Blend Napa
Price: $70.00       Sale $61.60         Case $714
Quantity in Stock: 23

With one year of college completed, Alec's wine is both boy and man in this boundary-pushing blend of Syrah 60%, Merlot 34% and Cabernet 6%. Asserting his independence through explosively ripe blackberry and huckleberry fruits, there's also kirsch-like cherry cola, spicy oak, supple tannin and a trace of s'mores that's closer to home. Tremendously youthful and seriously good fun, Alec's Blend remains a kid at heart. 1,200 cases produced.

2014 Lewis Merlot Napa
Price: $88.00    Sale $77.44
Quantity in Stock: 21

Dark purple color with lots of dark plum and blackberry fruit, sweet herbs, cedary- oak spice, bitter coco and more as this wine opens up.  Thick and has a texture of velvet on the tongue plush and fruity with fine silky tannins and a firm hand of acidity holding things in place, cigar box spice and bitter coco lingering in the finish with almond joy candy bar like notes coming out on the finish as this wine opens.  At 15.5 this wine is big but still has balance and should last for a decade in your cellar.  Finish 50+  Most Excellent

I love the Lewis’s description of this wine: “In his '56 hit recording of "Blueberry Hill," Fats Domino could have been singing about our 2014 Merlot - a dream girl of perfumey fruits and cedary-oak spices. Fleshy, polished and ripe with plenty of youthful drive the wine is beautifully balanced, finishing with long, supple legs. 175 cases produced.”

2014 Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $99.00       Sale $87.12         Case $1010
Quantity in Stock: 10

Our 2014 Napa Valley Cab takes center stage in a flashy jumpsuit with super plush fruit and sexy oak spices - Elvis is in the house! There's a whole lotta fruit going on, playing out in perfect pitch and velvety voice - it's irresistibly good. Classic, three-chord composition provides structure with notes of cedar, clove and sweet tobacco for added melody. Finely polished with chocolaty tannins, something like blue suede shoes.   2,000 cases produced

2014 Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa
Price: $189.00    Your Price: $166.32
Quantity in Stock: 11 (36 more bottles available)

The best qualities from our past two vintages come together like yin and yang in our singular 2014 Reserve Cabernet. Radiant color and soaring aromas of ripe blackberry, toasty oak spices, black truffle and cappuccino make an impressive entrée. Fleshy and supple at first, the wine expands into deeper, more concentrated fruit layers with chocolaty, fine-grained tannins. 1,400 cases produced.

2012 Lewis Cellars Cuvee L Napa
Price: $275.00    Your Price: $220.00

Think of Cuvee L as a supercharged rendition of our Reserve Cabernet, with a swimsuit model at the wheel. Spectacularly ripe fruit laced in sexy clove and oak spices, this wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and total seduction. Youthful and forward with juicy blackberry, silk-skinned plum and rich, malt chocolate, ample tannins bring maturity, depth and heightened experience to the wine. 150 cases produced.

Menu

Selection of cheese:  Beemster Gouda, Parmesan Reggiano

Butternut Squash Ravioli with toasted pine nuts and sage brown butter

Medium rare seared bone in filet with shallot red wine demi and blue cheese butter

Black raspberry crème brulee

This tasting is limited to 24 tasters and the fee for this event is $150 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

A bit more about Lewis Cellars:

Their story one of the most interesting in the wine business and one of the most unique because Randy and Debbie do not own a single grapevine and they have managed to produced consistently excellent wine for over 20 years!  And we have been on the Lewis bandwagon since day one.

I remember the first time I met Randy and Debbie, they stopped by Café Maxx to say hello and introduce me to their Oakville Ranch wines as I was setting up the bar.  I was probably a bit rushed that evening as I looked at my watch and asked, "Do you have an appointment?"  They added me to their Christmas card list that year and continued to come back every year to visit with me and taste the current releases.

Randy also liked to challenge himself by ordering a glass of each wine that we were serving “by the glass” and then say- "don't tell me which one is which, I want to see if I can figure it out."  The thing that impressed me the most was not that Randy would pick out each wine correctly it was that he could drink the entire glass of each wine after his blind tasting was over.

After only a few visits we had everything from Oakville Ranch Winery on our wine list and then shortly after that Randy and Debbie formed the Lewis Cellars label.

We have watched the Lewis's grow and grow as they went through the valley's top vineyard sites to find fruit and contract the services of some top name consultants like; Joe Cafaro, Helen Turley and Paul Hobbs.  Today, they are making some of the best wines coming from Napa and Sonoma with each varietal being at the top level of quality at any price range.

Every year we conduct a California “Cult” Cabernet Sauvignon tasting featuring some of the most expensive and the highest rated wines from Napa Valley.   We have included this wine as a ringer in the past and it has come in first place among the likes of Harlan Estate, Colgin, Araujo, Bryant Family and yes…Screaming Eagle!!  All of these sell for over $500 a bottle today!!!

Lewis Cellars is an offspring of Oakville Ranch Vineyards, which burst on the scene as one of Napa Valley's most exciting new wineries of the late 1980's.  It all began when Bob Miner (the founder of the highly successful Oracle computer software company) and his wife Mary bought Oakville Ranch in 1989.  Longtime friends, Randy and Debbie Lewis, were brought in as limited partners to launch and manage the brand.  Lewis has a background unique among vintners in the Napa Valley.  From 1970 to 1991, Lewis drove all sorts of race cars and raced in five Indianapolis 500 runs, where he once finished 14th.  Debbie, his wife since 1985, is a former wine retailer - she once managed the London Wine Bar in San Francisco and also helped Lewis' race-car career by working with sponsors.  Lewis admitted that winding up in the wine business is an unusual turn of events for a guy who has competed with the best from Monte Carlo to Laguna Seca.  Born and raised in Atlanta Ga., Lewis came from a family of doctors.  Lewis got his bachelor of science degree at San Jose State and then received his master's degree in business administration at UC Berkeley in 1970.  "I always wanted to race cars but my family wouldn't let me," he admitted. "By the time I had just about finished college I figured it was an opportunity for me to do what I wanted.  I didn't start racing until '69 - I was a late bloomer. But then I couldn't get enough of it, so I started racing full-time."  With an advance from a professional team, Lewis took off for Europe in the winter of 1970.  "My first race was in Monte Carlo," he said. "I was a bit nervous as there were 125 drivers for 24 slots.  Nevertheless, I did all right. I finished 12th."  Lewis spent three years in Europe.  It was there that he got a bit of education - not only on the track, but in the European lifestyle as well.  He learned a great deal about wine and developed a palate for a wide variety of varietals and winemaking styles.  "For 23 years I had a great career. But now I can't think of anything I'd rather do," said Lewis.

After the winery was formed, Lewis and Miner decided to go looking for a winemaker. They turned to one of the best in the business - Joe Cafaro.  Cafaro was the founding winemaker at Keenan and later worked at Acacia.  Since 1985, he has served as consultant to the Jaeger Family Winery, Dalla Valle Vineyards, and Robert Sinskey Vineyards.  He is also the founder of Cafaro Cellars, noted for fabulous Merlots and Cabernets.  At Oakville Ranch Cafaro practices minimal winemaking intervention and utilizes lots of new French oak barrels to produce a singularly unique Napa Valley hillside Cabernet.  From the outset Oakville Ranch Vineyards was a Cabernet star - its debut was one of the best wines produced in the Napa Valley in the very difficult 1989 vintage.  The 1990 Cabernet was broad, rich, lush, and complex - ample evidence that great wines can and would be produced at Oakville Ranch.  The 1991 vintage, however, heralded the true arrival of Oakville Ranch as a Cabernet superstar.  The winery produced three Cabernets in that vintage: a regular bottling, a Reserve, and a Lewis Select.  The latter was a really special wine and a significant notch up from the other two Oakville Ranch Cabernets - it was easily one of the top stars of the 1991 vintage.  Although only 450 cases were produced, it garnered significant attention for Randy and Debbie Lewis.  The Lewis Select was their own personal statement as vintners and set the stage for the Lewis’s to break away on their own venture.

Within a year after the release of the first Lewis Select Cabernet under the Oakville Ranch label, Randy and Debbie's tenure came to an end.  In November of 1994, their business partner, Bob Miner, lost his battle with cancer.  Shortly thereafter the Miner family decided to resume full control of the property.  Randy and Debbie had accomplished their objective of piloting the Oakville Ranch brand to 4,500 cases and achieving almost overnight recognition for Oakville Ranch among connoisseurs of Napa Valley wines.  Bob Miner's nephew Dave assumed management responsibilities; and Randy & Debbie Lewis decided to form their own brand utilizing Oakville Ranch fruit.  A long term contract with the Miner family guaranteed the Lewis’s as much as half of the grapes from Oakville Ranch, thus ensuring them a high quality source of fruit for the foreseeable future.  Although the picture is still somewhat muddled, the final split between the Miners and the Lewis’s may not have been completely amicable.  Firstly, Randy and Debbie have earnestly been combing the Napa Valley for new vineyard sources that will make them less dependent on Oakville Ranch.  Secondly, though they continued to utilize the services of winemaker Cafaro (who was still making the wine for Oakville Ranch), within eighteen months of the launch of Lewis Cellars, Joe Cafaro was gone.  In his place arrived the leading winemaker in the entire state of California, the inimitable Helen Turley.  Although Turley had responsibility for the 1994 Lewis Cabernet and the 1995 Lewis Chardonnay, her relationship with the Lewis’s was short-lived.  In early 1997 Lewis Cellars hired another superstar winemaker, Paul Hobbs.  Hobbs has his own very successful and consults for a number of other properties both in California and South America.

The winemaker today is Josh Widaman he came to Lewis from Pahlmeyer where he had been winemaker. His previous experience includes 4 years as assistant winemaker at Chimney Rock Winery and multiple roles at Stags' Leap Winery, Gloria Ferrer, and Viña Tarapaca in Chile.

With a B.S. in Viticulture & Enology from UC Davis, Josh brings 15 years of winemaking experience to Lewis, where he is a large and ever-smiling presence.

The rest of the Lewis Cellars wines that are available:

2015 Lewis Cellars Reserve Chardonnay Napa
Price: $81.00    Your Price: $71.28
(9 bottles available)       

Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" best captures the character of our rocking 2015 Reserve Chardonnay. Ripe yet succulent D'Anjou pear, gardenia blossom, sweet mineral spice and toasty brioche aromas come singing through. Broad-shouldered, with creamy textured leesy flavors, the wine reaches great depth while maintaining precision and serious structure. 500 cases produced.

2014 Lewis Cellars Barcaglia Lane Chardonnay Russian River Valley
Price: $79.00    Your Price: $69.52               Case $806
12 bottles available

2014 makes it three excellent vintages in a row for our Barcaglia Lane Chardonnay, sourced from a trio of clones at this Dutton Ranch vineyard. The wine is all succulent, ripe citrus with toasty tangerine, orange zest and lemon-lime. Toasty gun-barrel oak and vanilla, together with tropical fruit skin and spice completes the package. Buttressed by a framework of native acidity the wine is gauzy in weight and texture, staying up in the palate before finishing with focus and clarity. 500 cases produced

2013 Lewis Cellars Barcaglia Lane Chardonnay Russian River Valley
Price: $79.00    Your Price: $69.52               Case $806
Quantity in Stock: 27

Think of our 2013 Barcaglia Lane Chardonnay as sailing off into the sunset. This vessel holds a vast cargo of golden, tropical fruits and spices with mango, cinnamon bark, toasty orange, and flecks of mineral like grain on a sandy beach. She carries plenty of canvas too, with wonderfully ripe and rich-textured fruit filling the sails. A fresh breeze of native acidity washes o'er the deck and keeps her on course till twilight and beyond. 550 cases produced.

2013 Lewis Merlot Napa
Price: $88.00    Sale $77.44
Quantity in Stock: 10

The longer wheelbase and wider track of the 2013 Merlot make it more comfortable and more capable than any recent vintage. The premium package includes uber-ripe plum fruit, wild berries, clove and vanilla cream spices, while the performance option adds 25 horsepower plus firmer, cedary suspension components and wider-tread tannins that help keep this dangerously delicious wine on track. 125 cases produced

2014 Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon Hillstone Vineyard Napa
Price: $165.00    Your Price: $145.20
Quantity in Stock: 12

This gorgeous wine, equal parts show-house and rustic cabin, sits along an alpine lake deep with black currants and massive ripe fruit. The air is redolent, with blackberry, clove, candle wax and vanilla oak spices. Picking up weight and muscle below the surface, the wine is anchored in fine tannins.

Cuvee L - The rarest of the rare, Lewis on Steroids

2013 Lewis Cellars Cuvee L Napa
Price: $275.00    Your Price: $220.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

Our 2013 Cuvee L is massive. A 14,000-foot peak ('fourteener') of towering black fruit, obsidian color and awe-inspiring aromas. 96% Cabernet Sauvignon plus 4% Merlot the wine is velvety yet very densely constructed, with layers of rustic ripe fruit, cedary oak spice, and crushed rock minerality. Imposing at first, the summit route leads to a lush hanging valley with sinewy tannins and a vast alluvial fan finish. 100 cases produced.