For après ski it's time to pour some tequila.

When you think about the best tequila on the planet, you likely aren’t envisioning Colorado ski towns. But a new product on the shelf this season is aiming to change key conceptions of what agave spirit can be. Montagave is a brand combining the delicious distillate of Jalisco, Mexico with the superior barrel craftsmanship of French winemakers. It all came together in Aspen, Colorado of all places.

The legendary ski resort town is home to Montagave founders John and Lucie Melvin. Initially the husband and wife entrepreneurs wanted nothing more than to craft a special spirit for their wedding, back in 2019. This took shape as an elegant, sipping tequila finished in Bordeaux wine barrels for less than a month. After seeing the response from friends and family to the liquid, the couple realized that there was bonafide business potential to their creation.

Fast forward to the start of 2022, and they were launching Montagave in bars and bottleshops of Aspen—with speciality shops in California, Texas and New York soon to follow. Brimming with berry fruit and a pleasingly piquant finish, the debut Héritage expression is now selling in the markets for $75 per bottle.

And the transparency of the labeling on the outside is almost as refreshing as the liquid it holds within. Each Montagave release explicitly states the distillery and region of Jalisco in which it was born. It describes the distillation and cooking techniques used for the agave and features the signature of the local master distiller who crafted it. So even though John and Lucie Melvin might envision their product as an obligatory addition to aprés-ski ritual in Aspen, their business focus is firmly fixed on tequila country.

Forbes sat down with the couple for an exclusive interview, detailing their journey into the world of craft spirits. Read on below...

Montagave co-founders, husband and wife John and Lucie Melvin

What got you into Tequila?

John Melvin: My journey in the spirit world actually began with single malt whisky. I have Scottish heritage and studied abroad in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh to dig into that heritage—and whisky, of course. Later I worked for a grain-to-glass single malt distillery outside of Austin, TX called Andalusia. One of the things that I appreciate about the world of single malt whisky is that for the most part, the distilleries are the brands: See The Balvenie, Glenrothes, Lagavulin, Talisker, etc.

Coming from Texas, we were either drinking whisk(e)y or tequila, and I loved tequila. I noticed there were a huge amount of tequila brands in the space, but I wanted to know the distilleries—who were the people behind the juice? This is how we became familiar with some of the most respected tequila families and their associated NOMs in the space: the Rosales family, the Camarena brothers, Guillermo Sauza and family, the Vivanco family, etc. We fell in love with their passion, their craft, and their commitment to family and legacy.

When did you decide to start your own company?

JM: I think it was between batch 2 and 3 of our wedding tequila project—aged in our living room [laughs]. We, along with our friends and family, were incredibly impressed with the flavors that had developed from resting tequila in a French oak wine barrel. We recognized that if you’re going to introduce wood into the equation, high-quality tequila does really well with high-quality wood.

In general, the tequila space has been dependent on American oak and ex-bourbon barrels because of their abundance, price, and proximity to Mexico. I think we recognized an opportunity to introduce something to the space that hadn’t been seen before: a collaboration between some of the finest tequila craftsmanship in the world and a barrel program that is incredibly high-quality and granular in its sourcing methodology.

What makes Montagave Tequila unique?

Lucie Melvin: Montagave is produced using traditional methods of production, without any additives, and introduces a unique and extremely high-quality barrel program: Grand Cru Bordeaux barrels.

A bottle of the debut Heritage expression

Why bring French wine barrels into it?

LM: Before this was a business idea, we made Montagave for our larger wedding celebration in France. With the Texas contingent traveling to France, we knew we were going to be serving lots of tequila and lots of wine. That’s when we had the idea to source a French oak wine barrel to create a bit of a collaborative spirit. We ultimately served what was to become Montagave at our party in France and it was a huge hit with friends and family.

Why did you pick Cascahuín as your tequila distillery? And how did you convince them to make your juice?

JM: Cascahuín—owned by the legendary Rosales family—is one of our favorite distilleries: four generations of master distilling heritage and an incredibly talented family that is unapologetically committed to their craft. We reached out as we were getting more serious about the Montagave project, and discovered a shared passion for craftsmanship and connecting with loved ones around great food and drink.

We pitched the Rosales’ on introducing a unique and extremely high-quality barrel program to their long legacy of award-winning and traditionally produced tequila. They were equally excited about the opportunity to bring a new perspective to the space. Lucie and I are thrilled to be working alongside them. It’s the perfect blend of our cultures and a partnership bonded by family, craftsmanship, and innovation.

Tell us more about the process that it takes to create your debut expression.

LM: One of the things we wanted to do with Montagave was celebrate the people and the traditional methods of production at [Cascahuín]. It’s an integral part of our brand messaging so we highlight the distillery, the people, and the production methods on our bottles as well. For our rested Blanco ‘Héritage’ expression, our agave is sourced from the hills and valleys around El Arenal in Jalisco. We roast the agave in traditional brick ovens for 72 hours before using a roller mill for extraction. We naturally ferment in open-air containers and then distill twice. Our tequila is then rested in barrels sourced from left and right bank Bordeaux wine producers for around 29 days. We pull the tequila from barrels and immediately rest it in stainless steel. From field to bottle, our process takes around 2.5 months and we never use additives.

What is your vision for the future of Montagave?

JM: We want to keep pushing the boundaries of barrel aging tradition in tequila. We’re working on a number of limited and unique bottlings to be released in the months and years ahead. Our current focus is here in the mountains in Colorado and building out our website membership, but we anticipate launching in more markets in the USA and globally soon.

Storefronts and ski slope in the town of Aspen, Colorado (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of ... [+] America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)