What’s with the apostrophe?

We probably get asked this question more than any other and we’ll do our best here to explain
the origins of this appendage to our company name.

Mark Johnston,  President and founder of L'Eft Bank Wine Company			Explanation 1: Back in 1985, when founder Mark Johnston started buying and selling wines out of his Ford Pinto, he needed to come up with a name for his young business. His warehouse (if you could call it that) was situated on the left bank of the Sugar River in Paoli, Wisconsin. A broken extension ladder served as a conveyer belt as cases of wine were loaded and unloaded to and from the subterranean, dirt floored, rock walled basement of what had been a cheese making company at the turn of the century. Explanation 2: Mark is the first to admit that when it comes right down to it, he much prefers the austere Cabernet based wines of the left bank region of Bordeaux than the fruit forward Merlot based wines found on the right bank of the Gironde River.  Explanation 3: When Mark was a teen, his nickname was Newt. Stay with me here. The word origin of Newt in old English is (I think you know) Eft! So, when you put an l’ in front of that, you get a play on words, a sort of old English/French hybrid meaning “the newt”. Explanation 4: Mark’s politics lean left. He’s very well read and informed about all things political and can often be found listening to Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now from 1 to 2 in the afternoon. Many serious, exciting and sometimes depressing discussions have transpired in the offices of l’Eft Bank Wine Company over the years. Mark rarely lets an opportunity to make a political pun get away from him, or any pun for that matter. So, that’s what it basically comes down to; Mark loves words and word play. He came up with l’Eft Bank Wine Company and once you know the stories behind the name, it makes all the sense in the world.