by John Melvin

You ever notice how the best moments in life - laughing, connecting, and celebrating - get even better when there's good food, wine, and spirits involved? Yeah, same. I blame my parents for this revelation - they grow nearly a dozen Côtes du Rhône varietals outside of Austin, TX. That's right, Austin. Not Napa, but hey, they've got good taste and we love the Republic of Texas.

Fast forward a bit, and I found myself studying in Edinburgh, Scotland, trying to get closer to single malt whisky. One of my first gigs? Cracking malted barley and cleaning out mash tuns for a grain-to-glass whiskey distillery in Blanco, TX. It was awesome, and it got me hooked on the idea that what you drink should be as interesting as the people you drink it with.

Then, Lucie came along. We met in Colorado, and one of the million ways she wowed me was with her love for wine. Turns out, her grandfather had been stashing away cases of birth-year Bordaux and Burgundy for his grandkids in a basement cellar. When I visited her family in France, we opened bottles of 1989 Margaux and 2005 Saint-Émilion. No pressure, right? And then I introduced her to good tequila. I mean, real tequila. Not the mixto stuff France was importing back then. Let's just say her initial "tequila face" quickly evolved after trying bottles like Cascahuin, Tapatio, Ocho, and Fortaleza.

So there we were, two people obsessed by well-made wine and spirits, planning our wedding and wondering what would happen if we merged our two worlds.

We started by nabbing a French oak barrel from a legendary cabernet sauvignon producer and letting some valley tequila rest in it for six months. We debuted the result at our wedding in France and the crowd went wild. People kept asking for more, so we kept making it.

Eventually, we knocked on the door of the Rosales family at the iconic Cascahuin Distillery (NOM 1123) with a proposition: What if we took our favorite tequila in the world, their additive-free and artisanal blanco and aged it in barrels that the tequila world had never seen? They were in and in 2022, Montagave Blanco ‘Héritage’ was born.

Montagave is a tribute to those magical moments when you’re surrounded by people you love, eating, drinking, and celebrating life.

From the sustainably sourced agave to the artisanal oven-roasting and the world-class barrels used in our ageing process, each step is curated to ensure every sip you take is nothing short of extraordinary.

So, to everyone who’s supported us so far: thank you. We’re just getting started, and the best is yet to come.

Salud x Santé,

Lucie + John