Lewis Cellars Wine Tasting with Special Guest Joe Spellman MS

“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 a 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. 

Some of my favorite wines are made by my good friends and Randy and the late Debbie Lewis are some of my oldest friends in the wine business.  I met Randy and Debbie my first year working at Café Maxx in 1990.  I could not have been happier to hear that their 2013 vintage Napa Cabernet Sauvignon was the #1 Wine in the Wine Spectator’s illustrious top 100 in 2016, even though it had been sold out for more than 6 months when the Wine Spectator bestowed them this honor.  I was also glad to know that Debbie saw them reach this incredible achievement before she passed away.  God bless and that’s why I always say “drink the good stuff first” as you never know when your last day is so there is no reason to drink anything but KILLER juice!  (KILLER is my highest score)

The only problem is that like so many great small producers Lewis Cellars only make a small amount of wine with less than 1000 cases of most of the reserve Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings and their largest production wine being only 1700 cases and when you are one of 40+ wines to have every achieved this accolade in the world’s most recognized wine publication you know that the wine will only sell out faster this year so you may not want to wait too long to respond to this e-mail if you want the 2021 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a very short vintage for Napa.  Check out the Debbie’s Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc it is one of the best made in Napa!

We have our good friend Joseph Spellman coming to South Florida for a visit to showcase the newest release from Lewis Cellars on Wednesday, November 19^th.  Check out the list of wines and the menu below and if you can’t make the tasting we have an incredible collection of Lewis Cellars wines in the store right now so you can host your own Lewis Cellars wine tasting.

Lewis Cellars Napa Valley Wine Tasting

With Special Guest Joseph Spellman MS

Wednesday, November 19^th

7:30pm

2022 Lewis Sauvignon Blanc Napa

2022 Lewis Chardonnay Napa

2022 Lewis Chardonnay Sonoma

2021 Lewis Alec's Blend Napa

2021 Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

2021 Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa

2005 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2006 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2008 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2008 Lewis Cellars Merlot Napa Valley

2008 Lewis Cellars Syrah Napa Valley

Menu

Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie

Dungeness Crab Cake with Corn Lemon Thyme Custard and Smoked Lemon Vinaigrette

Korean BBQ Pork Ribs with Kimchee Slaw

Beef Wellington with Cabernet Sauvignon Wild Mushroom Demi Glaze

Double Chocolate Chip Bourbon Pecan Pie

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $275 + 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 30 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.

Today, Jordan Jeffries is the Winemaker at Lewis Cellars, our Napa Valley-based winery where we specialize in award-winning Cabernets and Chardonnays.

Jeffries’ interest in agriculture sparked at a young age, while tending to his family farm in his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. His pursuit to work with the land coupled by his intrigue in wine drew him to UC Davis where Jeffries studied Viticulture and Enology. After graduating in 2008, Jeffries worked his way up from various renowned properties including Duckhorn, Merry Edwards, Tamber Bey, Davis Estates, and Brasswood Cellars. As an avid tinkerer, he has perfected his knowledge of the Napa Valley terrain through both professional and personal exploration.

While Jeffries holds many accolades for his winemaking prowess, winemaking is not his sole passion. Jeffries married his wife in 2018 and they reside in Calistoga, California with their two sons Rhys and Kieran.