Friends & Colleagues,
We had the most amazing opportunity come to us this past Fall, and we are so glad to now be able to share it with you. May-Britt Malbec, widow of the late Denis Malbec, visited us with an incredible selection of wines that she and her husband have made over the years. For those that are unaware, Denis Malbec tragically died in a car accident in the Napa Valley in the Spring of 2016 at the young age of 46. Prior to that day, he lived a life that few winemakers could even dream of.
Denis learned to walk in the Cellars of the great First Growth, Chateau Latour. He learned to ride his bicycle among their vines in Pauillac. A Malbec family member has been part of making the wines therefrom 1920-1999, starting when his grandfather, Camille, was the Viticulturist from 1920-1972. His father, Jean-Noel, worked in the cellar from 1947-1994, and as Cellar Master from 1969-1993, teaching Denis every step of the way during his youth. Denis was solely responsible for making the wines following his father until 1999. One of 3 generations of Malbecs shaped the vines and/or crafted the wines at Chateau Latour for many of the great vintages of the 20th Century, including the incredible 1945, the rich and creamy 1959, the vigorous 1961, and the sensuous 1982. Most importantly, Denis was heavily involved with all their great vintages of the 1990s, especially 1990, 1995, and 1996.
After the 1999 vintage, Denis and his wife May-Britt, a highly accomplished Swedish Sommelier that he met while working alongside her at Chateau Latour, decided to follow their dream of making wine in their own locale, California's Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Once they arrived, they got right to work making some of the most blockbusting wines ever from top Producers like Kapcsandy and Blankiet. In just 11 vintages of making wine for these iconic wineries, Denis and May-Britt received 113 reviews of 96-99 points, plus 9 100-point scores! That is mind-blowing even to someone like me who has been in the wine business for quite a while.
While they were doing all this, the Malbecs made some wine just for themselves under the label Notre Vin or French for "Our Wine". They didn't spend a lot of time marketing these or submitting them to the press for reviews and articles (although some surfaced organically). And now that Denis has been passed on for 4 and a half years, May-Britt has decided to work with us to share these wines for our Arizona customers at unbelievable prices.
Our customers always ask for well-aged wines from great producers. Well, I can't think of a better opportunity than a 15+-year-old Howell Mountain Cabernet made by one of the best winemaking teams we have seen in the last 20 years. This wine is tasting incredibly right now, and you can definitely taste the experience of making wine for all those great estates showing through in the quality of this wine. We have purchased everything that May-Britt has available for this Library Vintage, and we hope to be able to tap into that well-kept cellar in the future!
Please let us know if you would like some of this Library Wine opportunity right away!
