MVA Wine Review
MVA — short for Maison Vernhes Alliance — is a membership-based wine collective built around discovery over convenience. Capped at 600 members, it delivers a collection of small-batch, artisanal wines every two months from producers you won’t find on a typical retail shelf.
Once a wine is featured, it’s gone for good. Scarcity, along with the membership cap, makes this wine club membership unique.
The collective’s core is Maison Vernhes, a farmhouse in Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Tuscany.
Samples arrive there year-round from a global scouting network and every three months the team runs a blind-tasting week, pouring 50+ unlabeled wines. Only bottles earning unanimous approval from a panel of guest winemakers and two members make the cut — a deliberately palate-first process.
Founder Laurent Vernhes brings an interesting pedigree. He co-founded Tablet Hotels in 2000, a curated independent-hotel platform later acquired by Michelin in 2018 to power the MICHELIN Guide’s hotel recommendations.
Grandson of a winemaker from southwest France, Vernhes applies that same curatorial instinct to wine: find the exceptional, vet it rigorously and deliver it directly to members like you.
Early collections lean on France and Italy, home to the world’s densest concentration of small artisanal wineries. Other source countries include Slovenia (which is where one of the wines in this review is from) and Argentina. Each collection acts like a passport stamp, spotlighting hard-to-find producers who lack the budget or distribution to reach U.S. drinkers on their own.
My Involvement with MVA Wine
One of MVA’s reps contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing a review. I did some quick research and decided their “unique collection model and modern approach to wine discovery” was definitely worth a look. I asked them to send a few sample bottles for review and they agreed.
How it Works
Joining MVA wine is commitment-based, not time-based. The way it works is you agree to receive at least two consecutive collections, and that’s it — there’s no separate membership fee, just the cost of the wine.
Your membership starts the moment you sign up, and your first collection ships right away.
Pricing depends on how many collections you commit to. Two collections run $210 each, four bring the price down to $190 each, and six lower it further to $180 each. Shipping is a flat $20 per case of six bottles, or $35 per case of twelve, no matter where you live in the U.S.
Collections ship every two months, so committing to two collections makes you a member for about three months. Commit to more, and you stay longer. Membership is capped at 600 people simply because the wines are made in small batches and not mass produced.
Membership can also be given as a gift and canceling is easy — a quick email to their service email address on their website to cancel your membership will get the job done.
The MVA Wine Collections
At the time of writing, MVA wine has six different collections. As time goes on, this may change as MVA grows. But, expect that MVA will continue to curate unique collections for their members.
It should also be noted that many of the wines in the various collections can be ordered individually.
Here are the six collections at the time of writing:
- Lift Off — The inaugural collection, assembled when the founders put their own go-to wines through MVA’s first collective blind tasting until only six remained.
- Orbit — A wider scouting process across French and Italian properties, expanding the search beyond the founders’ personal picks.
- Geosynchronous — A bonus second round pulled from the same tasting as Orbit; the scouts found 12 wines that earned unanimous approval, enough to create this additional collection.
- Old and New — MVA’s debut into New World wines, marking the collective’s first journey into Argentina.
- Golden Hour — An all-French collection showcasing lesser-known appellations, with an emphasis on whites ahead of red-leaning collections to come.
- Veins of the Valley — Wines united by a shared philosophy of letting the soil lead, spanning granitic, sandy and limestone terroirs for a distinctly mineral character.
Reviews of the MVA Wines I Received
Now let’s pivot from the background and mechanics of the MVA wine membership to my review of the three wines I was sent.
In doing this review, I had help from a family member who also has a keen sense for tasting wine.
Each of the three wines was reviewed for its appearance, aroma, taste and more. Additionally, you’ll find a picture of the bottle for each of the wines that were reviewed.
So, now that you know that, let’s get started!
MVA Chateau Tour Boisee Marie-Claude Review
From their first collection, this wine is a red blend of Grenache (35%), Syrah (35%), and Carignan (30%), with each varietal grown on its own parcel and vinified separately before coming together just before bottling. This was done in order to preserve each varietal’s individual character.
Grapes were de-stemmed with the première coule (first-run juice) set aside and gently pressed. Each varietal was aged 12 months in its own barrel before blending. 14% ABV, with a cellaring potential of up to 15 years.
Tasting Notes
In the glass, this wine was dark ruby in color with plenty of legs. On the nose we found it to be herbaceous and fruity, with a bit of alcohol bite and a hint of forest floor coming through. Interestingly, the wine’s aroma ended up being stronger and smoother on the nose than what showed up in the taste.
As for the taste, the wine was delicate, with a rosemary note reminiscent of a lamb dish, along with a touch of nutmeg. Red fruit flavors of rhubarb and raspberry rounded things out. Mouthfeel brought present but well-integrated tannins, mostly felt on the front of the tongue. Lastly, the wine finished long and dry.
Overall, an enjoyable wine. Letting it breathe brought out more smoothness than from the initial pour, so I’d suggest giving it some time to open up.
In our opinion, this wine would pair nicely with lamb. MVA suggests pairing with “slow-cooked beef, pasta al ragù, or orzo with mushrooms.” Just as good I’m sure!
MVA Molozay Chateau de Vaux Septentrion Review
Next up, let’s talk about this white wine from northern France.
Septentrion is built from a trio of grapes from Alsace: Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris and Auxerrois. The wine is made with a technique borrowed from Burgundy rather than the region’s usual approach: malolactic fermentation, which softens acidity and adds a rounder, creamier texture to the wine.
The winemaking relies on spontaneous fermentation and cool temperatures to let the fruit express itself naturally. From there, the wine spends 12 months aging in oak barrels with regular stirring (bâtonnage), a process that builds additional texture and depth.
It comes in at 12.5% ABV and has a lifespan of up to six years.
Tasting Notes
In the glass, this wine showed a medium lemon-gold color with plenty of legs sliding down the side. On the nose, we picked up a subtle pear aromas along with signals that this was going to be a dry wine.
Taste-wise, that light pear carried through, joined by notes of citrus — more grapefruit than anything sweet — and a touch of buttery richness. The body was dry from start to finish. Mouthfeel was a fun one to pin down: it had that same sensation you get from ginger ale, minus the bubbles and minus the sugar. The finish was long and lingered nicely.
Overall, we really enjoyed this one. Letting it breathe for a bit brought out sweeter notes that weren’t as noticeable on the first pour, so I’d recommend giving it some air. We also paired it with brie, which toned down the citrus and let more of that pear character shine through — a pairing I’d happily repeat.
MVA Santei Malvazija Review
Santei Malvazija puts a distinctive spin on one of Slovenia’s most widely planted grapes. Rather than a standard white winemaking approach, this vintage undergoes skin-contact fermentation, giving it more in common with an orange wine than a typical Malvazija — resulting in a rich, dried-fruit nose paired with an elegant, structured bitterness on the finish.
The grapes spend three to five days macerating on their skins before pressing, a process that draws out extra color, texture, and complexity. Alcohol content is 13% ABV and has a solid aging potential of up to eight years.
Tasting Notes
Santei displayed a rich light gold color with plenty of legs. On the nose, dried apricot and golden raisins led the way, backed by a touch of spice.
On the palate, the wine revealed a hint of pear and some of those dried fruit and spice notes from the aroma. With that said, this was a genuinely tricky wine to pin down, with a flavor profile unlike much else we’ve tried.
Mouthfeel brought a distinct wet-stone character along with noticeable tannins. Its finish was long, dry and carried a touch of bitterness.
Overall, a unique wine that took us outside our comfort zone. Pairing it with Gouda complemented the flavor, which is worth keeping in mind if you pour this one.
My Overall Opinion of MVA Wine
Overall, I was impressed by the uniqueness and variety of the wines. This membership club is clearly different than many of the other wine clubs that are out there.
What makes MVA wine unique is that the wines are obviously not mass-produced. Nor are they intended for the consumer who wants as many bottles for the price as they can get.
This is the type of wine club that focuses on the luxury consumer who is looking for something different and maybe wants wine that pushes them out of their comfort zone. There are not a lot of clubs out there following this model, at least for now.
So, if curated, limited-release and rare-find wines are a fit for you, then MVA wine might just be what you’re looking for! With a cap of just 600 members, I wouldn’t wait too long to join, though.
