Elixir Wine Group has been an importer since 2000, and our founder has made wine for 30 years.We don’t only buy wine — we make it, which is why we know what to look for.
Elixir Wine Group was founded in 2000, importing from South America at a time when few American
buyers were looking there. In 2011 we did two things at once: opened the book to Europe, and
started making our own wine in Oregon. What began as a South American specialist is now an
international house — Europe now accounts for as many estates as South America,
and it keeps growing.
Across three continents and nine countries we represent 26 family-owned estates, chosen one at a
time. Enzo Boglietti in Barolo. Alfredo Arribas in Priorat. Menéres in the Douro. Jean Sambardier
in Beaujolais. Guerrieri Rizzardi in the Veneto. Carmelo Patti and Matías Riccitelli in Mendoza.
Bouza in Uruguay.
Kirk Ermisch, founder.
Founder Kirk Ermisch began his career at Penfolds and
Kendall-Jackson — two of the largest prestige producers in the world — and built
Kendall-Jackson’s winery in Argentina, the first American-owned winery in the
country. He left to build a book made entirely of small family estates. Three decades on, he still works
harvest at his own wineries in Mendoza and Oregon, and walks the vineyards of the families we
buy from. Sourcing decisions get made in the cellar, not over email.
The book
Nine countries, region by region.
Every estate below is family-owned. We buy from growers we visit, in regions we know.
High-altitude Elqui Syrah and Carménère; Aconcagua blends; the cool coastal climates of San Antonio and Casablanca; old-vine richness from the Maule Valley and Colchagua.
Most importers have never made wine. We make it on two continents — which is the whole reason we
know what to ask a grower, and what a cellar looks like when something is wrong.
Luján de Cuyo, Argentina · founded 1925
Bodega Calle
Bodega Calle, Luján de Cuyo — founded 1925, restored from 2001.
Kirk Ermisch is majority owner and operator of Bodega Calle, a historic Mendoza winery that
turned 100 in 2025 — the same year Elixir turned 25. He acquired the property and began its
restoration in 2001, in the middle of Argentina’s worst economic crisis in modern history,
when most foreign buyers were going the other direction.
Its flagship red is now Ca’ de Calle Centenario, renamed for the winery’s
hundredth year. It is the most consistently high-rated wine in our book —
scoring above 90 points from Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and
James Suckling vintage after vintage, and named Grand Champion Best of
Show — the top award — at Houston’s Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine
Competition. Alongside it, organically farmed single-vineyard
wines under the Dharma label.
Ermisch Cellars, Bend — the tasting room on NW Lava Road.
Our boutique urban winery near Bend’s Old Mill District produces single-vineyard Pinot Noir
from Ribbon Ridge, Dundee Hills and Chehalem Mountains; Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
from Walla Walla and Red Mountain; and Willamette Valley Chardonnay. Many are LIVE Certified.
