Swept away by the romance of winemaking

As avid historians, Sharon Virts and Scott Miller excitedly bought the run-down Selma estate in Loudoun County, Virginia, and in 2016 began a multi-year restoration. This project led to us discovering more about Thomas Jefferson, who once had a home and 2,000 acres of winegrapes nearby and often visited his friends who resided at Selma. Already having a love of wine, we were swept away by the romance of winemaking and felt compelled to make our own.

We began in Napa Valley

With quality at the forefront of our decision-making, we began in Napa Valley. It did not take us long to engage renowned winemaker, Philippe Melka, whose careful craftsmanship and soil-first approach had already earned him international acclaim and made him one of the most sought-after winemakers. With Melka at the helm, we felt sure we would be able to carry forth the level of old-world care that we were looking for while keeping pace with the most celebrated wines of contemporary times. Coincidentally, we learned that French-born Melka had interned at Chateau Haute-Brion in Bordeaux which was a favorite winery of Thomas Jefferson when he served as Ambassador to France in the 1780s.

And commissioned original works of art for each label

Knowing that we were sourcing grapes from world-class vineyard sites with rich histories of their own, and winemaking was being overseen by an artist combining the best of old-world traditions and modern advancements, we set about to create labels that would be able to bring the same historical, cultural, and artistic depth in a way that would match the quality of the wines.

Wine creates community and Amlés helps make it better

Wine is woven into so much of the world’s history and is a true catalyst to creating community. We hope Amlés is used to bring people together, and we know for certain it will be used to improve communities because a portion of the proceeds go to fund our philanthropic work.

Inspiration led us to other renowned wine regions and winemakers

Once our Napa Valley wines were underway, we were inspired to craft wines from other historic wine regions that we love. We followed the same approach, starting in places that had a rich winegrowing history, where people had gotten to understand the land over generations and were able to coax the highest quality fruit from it. Then, we looked for the winemakers in each place who were true artisans. The ones with reputations of quality, who could mix art and science, time-honored traditions and modern techniques; the ones making history with their contributions to winemaking, and we hired them. We now have wines from Napa Valley, the Mosel Valley in Germany, and Willamette Valley in Oregon. You can read about the winemakers and vineyards for each on their respective pages.