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Retail Manager Jeremy Bohrer and Private Cellar Manager Ned Creed Curate the Outliers Wine Club, Daily Drinkers Club, Santa Barbara County Club, Les Marchands Club, and the Grand Cru Club

As Santa Barbara’s premier wine merchant, Les Marchands offers a complete wine experience that includes wine pairing knowledge, dining, extensive retail selections for fulfilling personal and business gift lists, sommelier-selected wines for entertaining, exceptional wine education classes, special events and now – an expanded level of wine club membership options. This fall, Jeremy Bohrer and Ned Creed curate five Les Marchands Wine Clubs: Outliers Wine Club; Daily Drinkers Club; Santa Barbara County (SBC) Club; Les Marchands Club; and Grand Cru Club. Each club is meticulously created to introduce novel wine experiences to clients, designed to enhance personal enjoyment, education, entertaining, holiday gift-giving and beyond.

As a bonus thank-you to club members, Les Marchands kicks off their monthly allocations with a Wine Pick-Up Party. Wine club members can opt to have their allotments shipped or can stop by Les Marchands each month to share a complimentary tasting with the team. Les Marchands Wine Pick-Up Parties are scheduled towards the end of the month.

OUTLIERS WINE CLUB:

The new Outliers Club is an unusual and amazingly tasty selection. Les Marchands’ Retail Wine Manager, Jeremy Bohrer, is known for crafting a wine list featuring boundary-pushing wines from “new” Old World regions like Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Lebanon and Georgia. This limited membership allows for an eclectic, interesting, funky wine experience such as a Georgian red that spent eight years in a clay pot (qvevri) buried in the ground, or a Slovenian white that spent six months on its skins. The Outliers Club explores all 72 of the world’s wine producing countries, not just the handful of countries that most often get top billing. The Outliers Club is for those who want to push themselves and their taste buds beyond the norm.

Membership is Limited. Pricing is $39-$59 per month (Includes 2 bottles of red, white, rosé, orange, or sparkling – no substitutions). Shipments and billing will continue monthly until subscriber cancellation.

DAILY DRINKERS CLUB:

This is the club for those who drink wine daily without a sacrifice to quality. Les Marchands has the knowledge to provide club members with qualified producers making top caliber wines representing a range of regions, varieties, and vintages – all with value in mind. Wine selections are sourced from local Santa Barbara producers, across the pond or the southern hemisphere. This club exercises blatant and intentional discrimination based on quality and drinkability.

Pricing is $49 per month (Includes 2 – 3 bottles of red, white, rosé or sparkling – no substitutions). Shipments and billing will continue monthly until subscriber cancellation.

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY (SBC) CLUB:

Santa Barbara County has the raw potential to sit right alongside the top winegrowing regions in the world. SBC Club highlights these producers who make that potential a reality. Santa Barbara County’s cool coastal influences to the west and warmer plots with expansive diurnal temperature variations in the east provide an extensive canvas for numerous varieties, resulting in wine experts claims of Santa Barbara County as the wine region that will gain the most global prominence over the next ten years. The SBC Wine Club is a mix of hard-to-find gems, recognizable names, and highly discoverable young producers. The same consideration is given to a multitude of grapes, regardless of color, thickness of skin, or regional claim within Santa Barbara County.

Pricing is $79 per month (Includes 2 – 3 bottles of red, white or rosé – no substitutions). Shipments and billing will continue monthly until subscriber cancellation.

LES MARCHANDS CLUB:

Les Marchands Club is a personal club of favorites curated by our staff. They select three wines of the season from around the globe that show a traditional representation of the varietal from the region. Expect a French-focused fetish to help learn a great deal about the classic regions. Also showcased are established producers and under-the-radar vintners from Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain and Santa Barbara County, in addition to wines from discerning producers in more obscure locations. The Les Marchands Wine Club is aimed towards classic and/or traditional vignerons, long-standing family histories, a mindset of natural production and hands-off winemaking practices.

Pricing is $99 per month (Includes 3 bottles of red, white, rosé or sparkling – no substitutions). Shipments and billing will continue monthly until subscriber cancellation.

GRAND CRU CLUB:

Les Marchands takes the guesswork out of Burgundy. For those bitten by the Burgundy bug, the team explores this blessed rabbit hole, and as those who have gone before can attest, few descents are more thrilling. The Les Marchands network of importers eliminate the challenge of finding producers with history and exceptional pedigree.

Pricing is $249 per month (Includes 2 – 3 bottles of Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir – no substitutions). Shipments and billing will continue monthly until subscriber cancellation.

ABOUT ALL CLUBS:

Each delivery includes wine descriptions, tasting notes, food pairing suggestions and producer highlights.
Club payment is applied monthly; applicable tax and shipping charges apply.
Shipments commence on or around the 3rd Monday of each month or schedule pick-up at Les Marchands.

Membership also includes a monthly Wine Pick-Up Party.

For further information, contact Les Marchands at 805.284.0380 or email info@lesmarchandswine.com

Wine Club Memberships are available now; requests must be secured by emailing info@lesmarchandswine.com or calling Les Marchands at 805.284.0380.

Pick-Up Parties are scheduled towards the end of every month; wine club orders are also available for monthly shipment.

WHERE:

Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant

131 Anacapa Street, Ste. B, Santa Barbara, California 93101

At the Corner of Yanonali and Anacapa

For further information and to make reservations contact: 805.284.0380 or email inquiries@lesmarchandswine.com

About Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant

Awarded the “Wine Bar of the Year” by Imbibe, and one of the 21 Best Wine Bars in the country by Thrillist, Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant is led by a world-class team of certified sommeliers and wine professionals with more than 100 combined years of experience in the wine and hospitality industries. Hailing from some of the most prestigious restaurants and wine retailers from around the country, the Les Marchands team enthusiastically brings their love for and deep knowledge of wine to confidently guide each guest through an outstanding wine experience matching every palate and budget with wines to enjoy in the wine bar or to take home. Product knowledge and personalized service is lived out daily at Les Marchands and is incorporated into every phase of the business from private cellar consultation to custom tasting events to the wildly popular Les Marchands Wine Club. The wines curated by the sommeliers represent quality-conscious producers – imports are Eurocentric, from the most relevant producers in France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and beyond. On the domestic side, the focus relies heavily on local Santa Barbara County producers who are shaping and redefining the region. A full bar of handcrafted artisan spirits complements Les Marchands’ extensive wine program with classic stirred cocktails made in the old-school traditional way. These include such favorites as The Vesper, Hanky Panky or the Bijou just to name a few. Chef Weston’s bistro menu showcases seasonally inspired food for supper nightly from 5 pm, weekend brunch from 11am-3 pm and an extensive selection of cheese and charcuterie every afternoon from 3 pm-5 pm.

About Jeremy Bohrer

Jeremy Bohrer is a veteran wine and spirits professional with over seventeen years working the vast wine world, including wholesale, retail, restaurant and production endeavors. His early experience as a wine rep for Constantine Wines led him to California in 2000. He worked as a manager at Bacchus, a small family owned wine shop in Manhattan Beach and was a manager at Trader Joe’s where Bohrer was in charge of overseeing the wine sections of multiple locations and developed “Wine 101,” a course that was used to train company employees throughout California. His other roles include eight years with K&L Wine Merchants as the Burgundy Department liaison. By 2014, Bohrer opened own small business, Still, – a retail space devoted to the art of cocktail craftsmanship. Still sold all things cocktail related, from mixers and bitters to shakers and vintage barware. The following year Bohrer also opened his own wine bar, Five & ¼ which focused solely on Old World wines from France, Spain, Italy and more unfamiliar regions like Croatia, Slovenia, Georgia and Hungary. As Retail Wine Manager for Les Marchands, Jeremy Bohrer brings his wealth of knowledge and passion for all things wine to the operation.

About Ned Creed

A Marin County native, Ned grew up a stone’s throw from wine country, providing him exposure to numerous producers at an early age. He embarked on a professional career with Benchmark Wine Group in 2005, focusing on import logistics, sourcing wines throughout Europe, private collection appraisals and acquisitions. Over the course of eight years, Benchmark grew from five employees to a global operation, handling cellars for a preferred core of rare wine collectors. Ned’s business travels include the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and numerous cities throughout the United States. Moving to Les Marchands in January 2013 brought Ned a welcome shift – reconnecting with producers in the most prominent wine regions and providing personal attention to individuals as they manage their private collections.

For further information on Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant visit:

www.lesmarchandswine.com

Become a fan of Les Marchands on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LesMarchandssb/

Follow Les Marchands on Twitter: @lesmarchandssb

Guests at Ca Del Sole restaurant passed our table and stopped to remark, “Are you having a wine tasting here? We figured with the three magnums on the table…” That what? We’d share? Oh no, I was going to take any extra wine home by employing the old trick of sticking that cork right back where it belonged, slipping it under my arm, getting it into the trunk of my car! They were Swanson magnums!

Okay, back to the dinner.

Winemaking

Napa winemaker, Chris Phelps, was in town for a two-day LearnAboutWine Cabernet event. But, lucky for me, Chris had a night in between the two days to share stories about himself and Swanson Vineyards. (Joining us for dinner was Sippity Sup’s Greg Henry and his friend Helen Melville.)

I had done a little homework on Chris before the evening. I knew that he had worked alongside, and was mentored by, the winemakers of Bordeaux (Christian Moueix and Jean-Claude Berrouet), and specifically, at the famed Petrus.

While on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, Chris learned that Merlot performed at its full potential only if grown under precisely the right conditions. The clay soil it thrives on at Swanson, for example, is critical: the Merlot grape likes the fact that clay meters water out slowly to the vine during the growing season. As Chris put it, “Merlot is a winemaker’s grape,” requiring less technical intervention if it is grown in the right place.

“When grown in clay Oakville soil, the wines have naturally good acidity, color and balance, exactly what we are seeking style-wise for our Oakville Merlot”, says Chris.

When Chris first arrived on the scene at Swanson the previous winemaker had been using only American Oak for Merlot. Chris shifted to half American and half French. This change, coupled with a custom, lighter toast, added more finesse and balance to the oak’s influence on the wines.

Chris is also very passionate about oak. He suggested that I visit a “cooperage” – a place where the barrels are made – to see how flavors such as vanilla, clove and spice emerge in the toasting process. (I can’t imagine pulling myself away from wine tasting the next time I’m in Napa, but he made this idea tempting.)

Swanson Vineyards

Swanson’s 90 Napa acres are attached to a true “family-owned winery,” Chris began. “An increasing number of wineries are owned by corporations.”

One of Swanson’s strengths is that it specializes in only 3 wines for the national – and international – market: Merlot, Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon. Many wineries seem to lose their focus as they distribute a range of wines that is always expanding.

“Making white wines for the first time, I decided to make our Pinot Grigio more of an ode to Alsatian Pinot Gris,” Chris said. “We pick it early to lower the final alcohol content, aiming for about 13.5%. We then ferment the juice 100% in stainless tanks and barrels, instead of fermenting in neutral oak, which had been done in the past. We stir the wine on the lees until Christmas, and bottle in mid-February. We find that the wine retains its freshness and fruit much better with these three fundamental changes in our approach to Pinot Grigio winemaking.”

It was interesting that Chris decided to use screw caps for Pinot Grigio to avoid any cork taint at all in his wine, and to keep the wine fresh for at least 2 years in the bottle. He likes to say that, “the crisp break of the cap being opened tells me I should expect to experience a fresh, crisp wine.” I really liked that statement and thought it would read well on the bottle.

Chris also gave me a piece of information as to the cost of Napa wines. He said that the vines in many areas of Napa Valley have to be replanted every fifteen to twenty years due in large measure to leaf-roll virus. The cost for that replanting is definitely something to consider.

Alexis and Merlot

The Alexis Cabernet, a consistently highly rated wine by Wine Spectator magazine, is 90% Cabernet and 10% Merlot, with alcohol hovering around 14%, unfined and unfiltered.

We started with the 04, and I found it had pleasant black fruits in both the aroma and taste, very dry, with a lovely length. Chris obviously brought his Bordeaux style to Swanson with the 10% Merlot he blended into his Alexis Cabernet.

Next we sampled the 05 Alexis. Chris said that this one benefited from a long, cool vintage and, since 05 was a big year for quantity, they thinned more heavily. Chris found the wine “complex” and we agreed that it could compete with any outstanding Right Bank Bordeaux.

The final Alexis was an 06. I noted both anise and eucalyptus on the nose, a dry, tannic mouthfeel and asked Chris how long he would suggest we lay it down for. He thought that it could go 10-20 years, or 30 in a magnum.

The restaurant’s wine list included a 06 Merlot – that’s the one I took home – and I found it to have a lovely balance. Just like Chris.

Eve's Wine 101

LES MARCHANDS ANNOUNCES THE NEW OUTLIERS WINE CLUB

Vintage Beacon Circa 12/2010: Dinner with Chris Phelps, Winemaker for Swanson Vineyards