Founded by South African winemaker Anthony Bell (that’s a welcome change I believe in the industry btw, too often we’ve only had French and American perspectives when it comes to wine) the winery grew consistently for a decade before it was bought by Dean Spanos (a name that does mean something in my house, if not yours given I grew up in San Diego and the Spanos family owns the Chargers to this day)

Bell Wine Cellars isn’t a name I am familiar with, at 15,000 cases they are simply too big (when combined with a Napa address) to be included in any of our wine clubs, but Bell is a recognizable name. He started at Beaulieu in the late 70’s, which was probably at its apex of quality at the time, he also helped to pioneer both the Carneros AVA as well as using different rootstock than is standard (Napa has a variety of pests that don’t exist elsewhere so almost all high quality wine is grated).

Given the history, using a bottle as part of a wine of the month club gift probably does make a ton of sense.