Seven Years
Seven years ago this month, we sent out the first shipment.
To mark the anniversary, we’ve pulled a small birthday selection from the cellar — wines from the producers who’ve been with us from the start.
Consider it a thank you. The details are waiting at the end of this letter.
A Report From Wine Explorer Diego Samper
Paris, France
April
April always brings two things for us: our anniversary and Malbec Day.
We didn’t plan it that way. But it fits. Because this whole thing started with a few bottles from Argentina.
I remember the first shipment. Not a “collection.” Just a few wines Will Bonner and I thought mattered.
We had options. Too many. Bottles on the table, trying to figure out what would still make sense once they crossed an ocean.
We didn’t know if it would work. We had already committed to the wine.
Around 300 members. Not huge. But enough.
The Early Days
Back then, nobody talked about altitude.
You didn’t see it on labels. No one was trying to sell it.
Now you start to notice it more. High altitude, here and there. Because it matters. The bigger players are picking it up. Even in Mendoza, wineries are moving higher, looking for that edge.
But I keep going back to that first trip north.
Six hours into Gualfín. Dust everywhere. The kind that stays on your hands even after you sit down to eat. At some point, a flat tire. The radio cutting in and out.
And then the mountains.
You stop talking. Not because you’re trying to. You just do.
No one mentioned altitude. They talked about frost. Wind. Whether the harvest would come in at all.
We ate what was on the table. We drank what was open. Some wines were rough. Some sharp. Some didn’t quite know what they wanted to be yet.
But they all had something.
You couldn’t explain it. You just knew it wasn’t the same.
The First Bottles
I’ve been there since the beginning. Sourcing those first bottles with Will.
- Tacana Malbec 2017
- Sunal Ilógico 2016
- Valle de la Puerta Gran Reserva 2014
- Puramun Reserve 2014
- Mendel Cabernet 2017
- Lagarde Cabernet Franc 2015
Not all of them were high altitude. At the time, we weren’t chasing that. We were just trying to understand what we had found.
Building the Relationships
It wasn’t always smooth.
Delays. A pallet that didn’t arrive the way it should have. You figure it out.
Small producers. Remote places. You stay close. You keep going back. That’s how the relationships are built.
Seven years later, close to 30 collections across Argentina, France, Spain, Italy, and others in between.
We’ve stayed true to it: small, boutique wineries — the kind you don’t usually come across.
Different tables. Same thread.
And if you’ve been with us, you’ve seen it. You’ve opened those bottles. You’ve had that moment where the table goes quiet.
That’s the whole thing.
Why Altitude Matters
Now people ask why. Why altitude?
What changes when you go higher?
Up there, around 8,000 to 9,000 feet, the vine is under pressure. Stronger light. Thinner air. Cold nights.
So it adapts.
- Thicker skins
- Slower ripening
And most of what we taste lives in that skin.
But you don’t think about that when you drink it. You just notice it.
It’s there. Clearer. More defined.
So yes, you’re going to see it more. High altitude.
It’s not new. It just has a name now.
Seven Years Later
It didn’t start with altitude.
It started with a few bottles on a table. With a bit of doubt. A long road. A place that didn’t need explaining.
Seven years later, it still feels the same.
A bottle gets opened. Glasses get poured. And for a second, things go quiet.
And if you’ve read this far, you already know what that feels like.
Diego Samper
Wine Explorer
P.S.
It’s our anniversary.
We went back into the cellar and pulled a small selection from the places that built this club.
As a thank you, there’s a birthday offer waiting for you.
To celebrate, we share. As all good wines should.
We did the legwork. You get the bottles.
