My name is Silvio Lelli. I am the youngest sibling in my family and the proud brother of five sisters. My parents were immigrants from Italy that pursued the American dream in Philadelphia. And although my parents loved my sisters dearly, they still hoped for a boy in order to carry forth the Lelli name. On the day of my birth, my father stenciled on the name placard at my hospital crib, “Silvio the King”. From day one, I’ve been looking for that crown.
I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spirit. As a young boy I delivered newspapers, raked leaves and shoveled snow. By twelve years of age, I maintained twelve clients in a two block radius. Although my title suggested otherwise, I had to hustle because my family was not from royal blood. I knew that being an entrepreneur would lead me to my crown. But the core of being an entrepreneur means listening to your drum beat. And typically that drum beat is not in synch with the chorus around you. But every now and then the stars do align and your drum beat becomes the cadence for the chorus.
Decades later; after military service, university, a film production company and eventually Nationwide Wine & Spirits, the stars aligned. The 2012 vintage in Napa Valley is considered one of the best vintages in quite some time. It was textbook perfect from start to finish. Perfect buds ripening at the right time, even flowering, just enough hot summer days to stress the grapes, and cool/ foggy nights to allow maximum downtime for maximum flavor. The gnarly Cabernet Sauvignon berries 1900 feet on Mt. Veeder fought for their existence and only a select few made it into an Asura bottle. When it was all done, only 3,000 bottles of the 2012 Asura Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon were produced. A cult wine was born.
At the onset of creating Nationwide Wine & Spirits, a wise man once told me that I should work with what I knew. I was head long in wine and spirits and all of my industry experience was in Pennsylvania. It made absolute sense to align the company with the needs of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). And although the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sometimes gets flak for being a controlled state; the fact of the matter is that they were the first to recognize greatness in a bottle. Being first allows them to sell it inexpensively at $299.99 (yes that’s right, $100 – $200 OFF from the regular price of $399 – $499). Any intelligent wine aficionado knows that this wine will sell at least five times that amount in a decade from now.
I could go into a whole diatribe about the nuances of flavors from this magnificent cult wine but I won’t. Just understand that this is a cigar / steak pairing wine with bold flavors for the re-emergence of the American Cabernet Sauvignon palate. It is not for the timid. Only a select few will be fortunate enough to drink this wine because the inventory is dwindling fast. The beat of the cadence is now and I am honored that the company I built introduced this “Wine of Kings” to my Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It sincerely is a crowning achievement. – Silvio
· The 2012 Asura Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is available now as a Special Order from the PLCB, code 33751. Link to the PLCB’s website from www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com
Check out THE GREAT REVIEW:
