By Michael Lutzmann and Greg Rinehart,
Opimian Managing Directors
The evolution of your Opimian Wine Club continues. All you have to do is flip through these pages to see one of Canada’s trendiest Canadian wines wine regions with Prince Edward Country’s Karlo Estates wines available again this year.
We worked hard to source different California wines for Members, but mother nature did not play her part as we had to contend with drought and wildfires, resulting in higher prices. As a result, Blue Rock, Zinfandelic, and Stone Valley will be paused this year due to low estate inventories.
You’ll find Opimian’s largest-ever Portuguese selection of wines in this Cellar. Nuno Ramilo and his trendy indigenous Portuguese grape varieties are returning for their sophomore year. For the first time, we will visit the Portuguese island of Madeira, which sits off the northwest coast of Africa, as Justino’s joins us with several of their award-winning fortified wines! Finally, word has gotten out that some of the world’s best-made wines are coming from Germany, as this country has become a net benefiter of global warming in wine production. And, as last year’s Founder Choice subscribers know–Alex Pflüger and his bio-organic wines should be in everyone’s cellar!
The wines submitted for this Cellar were tasted in Canada for the first time in Opimian history. Submissions were shipped to our new tasting room at our Head Office in Montreal rather than London, UK, and Louise Wilson MW (one of several new Canadian MWs at Opimian) spent several days scoring and selecting the best of the best. To you, the Member, you can expect the same guaranteed Master of Wine quality that is the essence of Opimian.
You will have even more perspectives to help you make your choices. Our iconic subscription programs are the largest of their kind in the Canadian wine world. The Founders Choice wine subscription is a premium red wine that is only available via the subscription program and is considered by many Members to be the pinnacle wine experience of the club. If you want a Master of Wine to select one wine for you each month, this program is for you. We also have the ever-popular Masters Case subscription. The Masters Case is a mixed, six-bottle case of hand-selected and sourced wines that takes the guesswork out of choosing. Opimian Suggests (p 5) will provide you with the favourites of the staff and Board; Coups de Coeur (p 7) shows you the four top-scoring wines from the MW tasting, Cellar Up! (p 24) helps you to develop your cellar with iconic wines from these wine regions. But that’s not all! We have a Member Service Team of trained wine experts to help you. A quick email to memberservice@opimian.ca and advice is at your fingertips.
From an educational perspective, you have lots to choose from too. The Masterpiece speaks to global sustainability, there is an article that helps you get to know Hook & Ladder, and we’ve got yet another Master of Wine explaining the finer points about fortified wines from Portugal. This is the first time that we have added Madeira to the many fine Ports that you know and love. Get to know them. You’ll be glad you did.
Hook & Ladder deserves another mention here. Both on the cover and providers of our Featured Wine, Cecil, and Christine DeLoach, along with grandson Jason, bring a passion to winemaking that we expect from all Opimian partners. But couple that with access to the Russian River Valley’s most sought-after grapes, and you end up with some of the best wines in North America.
Michael & Greg