Last Night In Paris...

(UPPER LEFT PICTURED Jesse Katz) 

Notoriously unapproachable, the wine world can be pretentious, snobby, and at some points even shameful. Always embarrassed to ask questions or make casual comments in fear of sounding like an idiot, I would try (and fail) to piece together context clues of what people were talking about. Smelling and nodding. Swishing and spitting.

But Jesse Katz is different. A first-generation winemaker and an easygoing, genuinely kind person, he’s open about every part of the process, from soil to barrel to bottle. Whether you’re a sommelier or complete novice, he doesn’t believe in stupid questions and meets you with genuine excitement. To him, “luxury” isn’t about exclusivity or showing off—it’s about care, quality, and craft. He’s not interested in gatekeeping. He just wants to dive in, and bring you with him.

As we sat down for our first tasting of Aperture’s newest vintages, I discreetly tucked my bikini straps into my pants, hoping no one would notice I’d accidentally packed swimsuits instead of underwear, but it didn’t matter. I was quickly reminded that high-end doesn’t mean you have to fit a certain mold, say the right things, or look the right way. It's just about the product.

And let me say that the wine was one of the best, most unique blends I had ever tasted—shared in great company, surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Years and years in the making, the COLLAGE collection lives up to its name: a blend of varietals from five distinct regions, spanning over 200 acres, woven into a single, striking vintage. With lack of an official “wine language” to describe it, I can say it was deep but not harsh, rounding off the tongue smoothly leaving a sweet satiating aftertaste. Made of 77% Cab, 11% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 7% Petite Verdot, it’s easily some of the most layered bottles I’ve had. The collection isn’t about following rules, but about rewriting them, celebrating contrast and complexity, imagination and identity.

Like the wine, Jesse’s own journey has been far from conventional. By the time he was legally allowed to drink, he had already traveled to over 80 countries with his father, a renowned photographer and fellow wine lover Andy Katz. At 12, Jesse visited Burgundy with his father and he remembers sipping a wine and casually saying, “This one tastes like stones.” The waiter lit up: “Oui, oui!” He attributes that memory as the moment he knew that’s what he wanted to do with his life.

He named his winery Aperture as a tribute to his father, designing the buildings to resemble the aperture of a camera lens, with deconstructed hexagonal shapes, interconnected structures, and varied roof geometries. His father’s photographs line the walls, pasted as the bottle labels themselves. The newest COLLAGE bottle takes it a step further using over 100 of those images spliced, layered, and kaleidoscoped into a mosaic framed by the aperture shape.

It’s this attention to detail across image, space, and flavor that defines Aperture. It’s not just the wine, or the architecture, or even the origin story, it’s how all of it blurs the line between storytelling and taste. Every element, from the label to the land, invites you in without asking you to perform. You don’t need to know the right words. You just have to take a sip.