The Land is Awake
LXV Wine Member Letter
The Land is Awake
Armaa.N · Willow Creek District · Paso Robles
“Before anything else – thank you.
This club season has been one of the most meaningful we have had. You showed up. In uncertain times, when the world outside felt loud and unsettled, you chose to invest in something small and handmade and real. That is not lost on us.
Your faith in LXV means everything.”
Neeta & Kunal Mittal
Now. I want to tell you about a snake. Yes, a Snake. Not as a metaphor. As a thing that actually happened, on the morning of our Spring Club Weekend, on the grounds of Armaa.N Estate.
The first guests were arriving when it came out of the vines and walked straight into the barn. Unhurried. Unbothered. Like it had been on the guest list.
At Armaa.N, a gopher snake is a protector. It moves through the rows quietly, keeping the roots safe, doing work no one sees.
It was a welcome. The land saying: this is a good day. Come in.
Chef Andre entertained us with a Meso food and wine pairing lunch on Saturday. On Sunday, Chef Charlie (pictured here) laid out the most extraordinary grazing board – his last in Paso Robles after 40 years. A farewell that tasted like everything good about this place.
In the Vineyard
To start the Spring we mow every other row between the vines. The rows we leave standing stay alive – flowers for pollinators, habitat for beneficial insects, roots quietly building the microbial networks that feed our vines. The rows that we did mow contained all the shoots left from pruning. This coarse pass mulches the shoots, helping them return to the earth. To our soil.
This is the whole philosophy. Not taking. Giving back.
And this week – the first Cabernet Sauvignon buds are breaking. A green so new it barely has a name.
In the Cellar
A sparkling wine. 2022 LXV Lumière – Blanc de Sangiovese. Extra Brut. Central Coast.
Right now we are in dosage trials – the final, delicate question of sweetness – with no reference point, no previous vintage, no benchmark to taste against.
Just Sherri, Jeff, Kunal, and me. A row of glasses. Three very different palates that somehow, eventually, always find the same answer.
When all three glasses go down at the same time – that’s the one.
SOLD OUT - NEW RELEASE
2022 LXV Lumière
Extra Brut Blanc de Sangiovese · Central Coast, California
Sangiovese holds a secret. Citrus-bright, ginger-lit, trembling with acid. We drew it into the light. Now it sparkles.
20 cases only · Club exclusive · Alc 12.5%
In the KITCHEN
Mother’s Day is coming. And this month’s shipment had everything you need to celebrate.
Three recipes went out in your boxes. One for yourself. One for two. One for the whole table. Because motherhood contains all three.
FOR ONE
Chips & Dip. A quiet afternoon, a glass of Cab Franc, something you don’t have to share with anyone.
FOR TWO
Umami Mushroom & Celery Risotto. Slow, attentive, worth every stir.
FOR THE TABLE
Chicken-Fried Steak with Gravy. The dish that says everyone I love is in this room.
We grow organically because the land is worth protecting.
We blend obsessively because you are worth the effort.
We come home – always – because this place, and the people in it, is the point.
With love from Paso Robles,
Neeta & the LXV family