It is always a pleasure to see Tom Celani as he represents his wines at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan. 

Since my earliest days as a clothier, I had stopped listening to music on the radio and listened to the top news radio station in the Detroit area, so that I, as a clothier, could speak rather intelligently with the customers, a trait that has been lost, I have noticed among the clerks that I now encounter.  I lead in with this introduction, because for years I had heard Tom Celani and all the philanthropic work he has done in the Detroit area, long before he had a winery.  Tom Celani is lauded in the Detroit area for his largesse for charitable organizations that he helps in a grand manner.  Tom was in town to maintain his support for “Hunger Free in the D” and the other charities that he rewards for their continued service.  He and his father ended up creating one of the largest Miller distribution companies in the United States along with other beers and wines.  Tom Celani fell in love with wines, first as a drinker and a collector and finally acquiring a Tuscan-style estate with seventeen acres of grapes and one-hundred-twenty olive trees in the foothills of the Vaca Mountain range in Napa Valley.  As the proprietor of the Celani Family Vineyards he has chosen to bottle wine without costs becoming a consideration, to him wine is about quality and not quantity.  In fact, he was joking that he is not sure if the winery will ever truly show a profit, because of his concern about getting the best wine each and every time.

The first wine that we had was Celani Family Vineyards La Prima Celani Chardonnay Napa Valley 2023.  I originally encountered the La Prima labeled wine and it was back then Sauvignon Blanc.  Now as a Chardonnay it is a new wine for them, and iit only undergoes Initial Fermentation with no Secondary Fermentation and it is aged in a Concrete-egg to maintain its fresh fruit flavor and natural acidity for about four months.  A light-yellow wine that offered notes of Meyer lemon, with a hint of lime, as well as white florals and a whiff of chalk.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of green apple, citrus and some tropical fruits blending harmoniously with some flint undertone and ending with a medium-count finish of crisp fruit and a touch of terroir.  It was very refreshing and a great wine to start off with.

We then went with the classic Celani Family Vineyards Estate Chardonnay Napa Valley 2022.  This wine is made from Wente 2A clone grapes and after harvest grapes were pressed whole cluster and underwent only Initial Fermentation in thirty percent new French Oak and seventy percent Concrete-egg sur-lees for ten months.  This soft-golden colored wine offered notes of Fuji apples and Bosc pears, followed by secondary aromas of tropical fruits, white florals and fresh-cut hay.  On the palate this medium-to-full bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of tree fruits and stone fruits blending with some luscious oak and vanilla influence to end with a smooth long-count finish of fruit, oak and terroir.