Well, that’s interesting . . .
Resnick is building that portfolio
Wines
- Justin
- Lewis
- Landmark
- JNSQ
Other:
Pom Wonderful
Fiji Water
Halos Mandarines
Wonderful Pistachios
…
Lewis is a really interesting kind of Napa Brand/Winery. Owns no vineyards, has a long track record of making plush oaky Napa cabs. Not a darling of geeks like us, and either ignored or reviewed moderately by the likes of Vinous or WA. Mainstream pubs like Wine Spectator love the stuff. Reading through reviews on CT, Lewis seems adored by people who like the flavor of oak and chocolate (no irony intended).
The wines don’t appeal to me but I’m really curious about this kind of business in Napa. There must be many wineries that own no vineyards, but have built a business and brand with many dedicated customers. Does it have a future? For Wonderful/Justin it’s a way to buy into Napa relatively cheaply I’m guessing. And the Cabs/Chards/Merlots probably make a good portfolio addition to the distribution deals they have or want to have.
For Napa Berserkers tend to favor wine makers who own their own land, but there are plenty of board darlings, or at least, board respected, who don’t. What do people think of this kind of winery? What are the best examples of this kind of negociant/visitor center?
I’m not a fan of ripe oaky Napa reds. And yet . . . once in a great while, at the right occasion, a bottle of Lewis cab or Syrah can be quite delicious.
It’s the kind of wine I’d like to have one or two bottles of in my cellar, for when the moment comes along.
I didn’t realise they don’t own any vineyards. The picture in the article certainly makes it look like their property is surrounded by vines!
For nominative reasons I have sampled a decent amount from these guys and it is my main ‘guilty pleasure’ at the hedonistic end of the spectrum for Napa. I just had a 2004 Cuvee L and I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I’m not super on top of their latest releases but I do remember flying First Class on American Airlines from London to New York a few years ago, and the cabin was having a great time getting sloshed on the 2017 Mason’s Cab!
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If Lewis is being bought by a clearly savvy and brand-focused company like this, I’d bet the answer to your question is most likely “yes”.
Hello Meiomi and just about everything from Dave Phinney
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The wines don’t appeal to me but I’m really curious about this kind of business in Napa. There must be many wineries that own no vineyards, but have built a business and brand with many dedicated customers. Does it have a future? For Wonderful/Justin it’s a way to buy into Napa relatively cheaply I’m guessing. And the Cabs/Chards/Merlots probably make a good portfolio addition to the distribution deals they have or want to have.
Good points made. I would guess that loyal customers will give it a vintage or two and if they like it will continue buying. Lewis wines are not cheap but not over the top on pricing either. When brands like Meiomi change owners the loyal consumer probably will continue to buy since one they don’t know if changed ownership and two you know the wine will taste the exact same.
Funny referenced Meiomi before reading your post but agree them and Phinney customers don’t care who owns them as the will make the same style that appeals to the loyal followers.
Nobody that drinks Phinney’s wines knows who Dave Phinney is… He’s about building a brand and damn good at it.
yes he is wealthy! Give him credit he is not worried about breaking even ever year.
Also prices will go up!
I wouldn’t guess that most Lewis customers will know or, if they knew, care a lot about the equity in the winery changing hands. They probably like the wines, and if the wines continue to agree with them and the pricing doesn’t go over the line, they’re probably fine staying on board.
Well of course you like Lewis wines.
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Thinking about other Napa(ish) wineries that I follow, like, and buy from, I see a pretty big mix of Domain and Negociant businesses. Examples:
- Rivers Marie - pretty sure they are all negociant.
- Detert - all domain
- Realm - started out as all negociant, have been buying vineyards. Moonracer is wholly owned IIRC.
- Ridge (yes, I know not Napa) - all domain, or mostly? I think so. Monte Bello is.
- EMH - all domain
- VHR - all domain
- Greer - all domain
- Chiron - all negociant
- Beta - currently all negociant, developing its domain holding
- Roy Piper - all negociant
Conclusion: I buy from a pretty wide mix of winery types. My (only slightly educated) understanding is that owning land in Napa, or indeed anywhere in California, is expensive. I like supporting wineries that emphasize quality craft over land ownership, and that’s born out in my buying habits.
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I would guess a newsletter would go out or email blast about change in the ownership.
In the big picture, I don’t think there is any strong quality or stylistic correlation between wineries with estate fruit and wineries purchasing grapes. At least not in the new world.
Most notably, when you have a winery you like and some of their offerings are estate and others are not, I don’t find that the estate ones are always or usually better, at least not compared to other SVD offerings of theirs at similar price points. For example, Carlisle owns a vineyard, but I don’t think that one stands out as being clearly better than their many wines from other vineyards. Same for Williams Selyem.
I’m boycotting all of the wine and products because of their business practices—including but not limited to their tree cutting/clearing when they bought Justin.
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I enjoy Lewis wines, but I think I’m right behind you on the boycott. I can’t support a California almond producer when the entire state is drying
up and they use more water than pretty much anything to produce almonds.
I am boycotting them because I hate Justin wines! ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}