When LVMH owner Bernard Arnault takes an interest in something, usually it is a good thing. Owned (well, 60%) since 2017 by the luxury goods giant, Colgin Cellars is Arnault’s most recent acquisition to his already well-strung bow. The addition of the cult Napa Valley winery completes Arnault string of wine estate deals that Arnault made throughout 2017.

It is no secret that Arnault is a lover of the finer things in life. His wine portfolio already houses heavyweights such as Krug, Clos des Lambrays and Château d’Yquem. And Colgin Cellars seemed to be the missing piece of his Napa Valley winery puzzle (LVMH also own Chandon California and Newton to name but two). Arnault is famous for believing that heritage maketh the brand, so how has he become so seduced by a Californian winery that had only been founded in 1992?

The answer undoubtedly lies in Ann Colgin & Joe Wender’s marketing strategy that sees them specialise in small production (2,600-2,800 cases annually), hand-crafted ultra-premium red wines. These are then only sold to a handful of restaurants and 8,000 selected clients in very small quantities (around three to six bottles per client). Around 70% of their clients are mailing list (with another 3,000 hopefuls on the waiting list). The remaining 30% is sold to restaurants worldwide, with just a few cases being kept back for the estate’s personal library. This strategy has worked well for Colgin, and has given her wine the cult status that caught Arnault’s eye (not to mention his wallet).

Happily, very little has changed at Colgin Cellars since Arnault became the majority shareholder. The wine constantly receives incredibly high scores, notably from wine guru Robert Parker who has enormous influence in the US (in fact, Parker has described Colgin’s IX estate as “as close to viticultural Nirvana as I’ve ever seen”). Rave reviews, a heavyweight investor and a superlative product with a tiny distribution? What’s not to like?