St. Supéry Estate

Chanel buys Skalli family Estate  / St Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery, owned by the Skalli family for several decades, has been sold to the Chanel group. “It is a pleasure to pass the torch on to such a prestigious company with an in-depth understanding of luxury brands. I am certain they will continue my vision of a Napa Valley chateau”, said Robert Skalli who founded the property in 1982. The estate now extends over 640 hectares including the Dollarhide Ranch and Rutherford holdings. The deal is expected to be finalised at the end of October.

The owners of Chanel – which includes jewellery, haute couture and perfume – and France’s seventh wealthiest family, brothers Alain and Gérard Wertheimer already own Château Canon in Saint-Emilion and Rauzan Ségla in Margaux. Belonging to a long line of wine growers, the Skalli family originated in Algeria in the last century. After moving to Corsica in the 1960s, Francis Skalli – son of Robert-Elie and father of Robert – expanded his business around the Mediterranean shores under the umbrella brand ‘Chais du Sud’, embracing wines from the Côtes du Rhône, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence.

TIMELINE:

1961 Robert-Elie Skalli begins making wine in Algeria.

1970s Robert-Elie’s son, Francis Skalli, develops the family estate, Terra Vecchia on Corsica, and a wine import company.

1980s Robert Skalli, son of Francis, travels to Napa Valley, at the same time building a winery in Sète, France. Robert, his uncle Albert, and cousins Robert Touboul and Claude Skalli, dream of creating prestigious wine in California’s Napa Valley.

In 1982, Robert Skalli purchases Dollarhide, a 1,500-acre cattle ranch in the northeast mountains of Napa Valley. Today, Dollarhide is home to nearly 500 acres of St. Supéry’s estate grown vineyards. Shortly after, the Skalli Family purchases 56 acres in Rutherford, where the winery stands today.

1989 St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery opens its doors on Highway 29.

1990s Michel Rolland joins St. Supéry as a consultant to elevate the Bordeaux red varietals.

2008 St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery is certified Napa Green Land.

2009 Emma Swain joins St. Supéry as CEO and Michael Scholz returns as vice president of winemaking and vineyards.

2009 - 2013 Substantial investments in wine quality are made including hand and optical sorting, small lot open-top tank fermenters, new cap management tools including punch down technology, custom toasted French oak barrels and improved infrastructure.

2012 St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery is certified as a Napa Green Winery. It also introduces optical grape sorting to enhance wine quality.

2015 The Skalli Family sells St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery to CHANEL, Inc. offering them a unique opportunity to own a significant Napa Valley vineyard, expanding their wine portfolio which includes Château Canon, Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Berliquet.

2017 St. Supéry opens a Tasting Salon in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive.

Today We continue to produce high-quality, estate wines without compromise. Through our commitment to sustainable winery and farming operations, we are protecting our land and environment for future generations.

St. Supéry Estate's wines are 100% estate from grape to bottle. We have complete control over how our grapes are grown and how our wine is made from crush through bottling. We strive to keep our land pristine and our wines at the highest quality and are proud to have both our land and winery certified Napa Green.

Rutherford Estate Vineyard

St. Supéry’s Rutherford Estate Vineyard surrounds the winery in the celebrated Rutherford wine growing region along Highway 29. Thirty-five acres are planted with red Bordeaux varieties: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and cabernet franc. With three soil types and an elevation of 154 feet, Rutherford Estate Vineyard enjoys a Mediterranean climate of warm days, cool nights and a long, dry growing season. These conditions are ideal for our red Bordeaux varieties, which are used for our estate red blend, Élu, as well as St. Supéry’s Rutherford Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc — three of our exceptional single vineyard bottlings.

Rutherford Dust: Rutherford Estate Vineyard is on the “Rutherford Bench” of mineral-rich alluvial soils of sandy clay loam from the Mayacamas Mountains. Deep, well-drained soils allow the grapevine’s root system to mine for nutrients and water, which yields complex and concentrated flavors in the fruit. cabernet sauvignon grown in Rutherford has tradition

Dollarhide Estate Vineyard

Located in the northeastern hills of Napa Valley, our Dollarhide Estate Ranch is a valley within a valley and has 1,530-plus acres, 500 planted to the vineyard. The oldest vines at Dollarhide Estate, now more than 30 years old, produce the full-bodied, robust cabernet sauvignon and distinctive sauvignon blanc wines upon which St. Supéry’s reputation was built. Vineyard elevations ranging from 600 to 1,100 feet above sea level, seven different soil series, 13 soil variations and unique microclimates, combine at Dollarhide to create an especially accommodating growing environment for Bordeaux grape varieties.

Parcel by Parcel – Our winemaking and vineyard team have a broad selection of soils and topography to choose from when selecting ideal vineyard sites at Dollarhide. Each parcel is planted with fruit quality and distinct character in mind. These parcels are then farmed individually so that the vines will thrive in their distinctive locations. Our team is able to match the right soils with the optimum combination of rootstock, clone selection and cultivation practices. The diversity of terrain results in a wide selection of fruit characteristics with which our winemakers work in producing estate sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon, estate blends and the Dollarhide Estate single vineyard wines.

Biodiversity at Dollarhide – The majority of the property thrives in its natural state with a diverse collection of flora and fauna including ducks, geese, cranes, egrets, jackrabbits, owls, bees, foxes, osprey, otters, bobcats and thousands of largemouth bass. The ranch is home to more than 1,200 heirloom fruit trees comprised of 190 varieties or 87 peach, 34 nectarine, 20 apple, 12 plum and 16 Pluot. A limited and seasonal release of the heirloom preserves is often available at the winery. 

Sustainability / With more than 500 acres planted to vines on Dollarhide and Rutherford Estate Vineyards, St. Supéry Estate is a major vineyard owner in Napa Valley. We strive to keep our land pristine and our wines at the highest quality.

Responsibility / We are stewards of our land, with more than 500 acres of prime Napa Valley estate vineyards, and nearly 1,000 acres of land flourishing in its natural state. Our two estates are certified Napa Green Land and our facilities are certified Napa Green Winery.

Cover Crops /During the winter, a variety of cover crops grow between the rows of bare, dormant vines in our Dollarhide and Rutherford Estate Vineyards. This vegetation is purposely planted to compete with undesirable native weeds, decrease the risk of erosion on hillside terrain and add essential nutrients back to the soil, all while providing a habitat for beneficial insects.

Canopy Management /Canopy management includes leaf, shoot, and cluster removal, as well as shoot positioning. The main reason for canopy management is to regulate fruit exposure to the sun to obtain optimal flavors and color, and therefore better wine. Smart canopy management also helps us eliminate the use of fungicides and enhances the habitat for beneficial insects through better light penetration and air movement in the canopy.

Biodiversity / There is a vast array of wildlife at Dollarhide. Ducks, geese, egrets, cranes, owls, bees, jackrabbits, foxes and a bald eagle family can be found frequenting one of the seven lakes on the property, which teem with largemouth bass. Our rattlesnake population helps keep the burrowing pest population from munching on the vine roots and eroding hillsides with their tunnels. It is not uncommon to see mountain lion or bear prints after a rain, a warning to deer who love to eat grapes and tender young vines.

We also install bluebird and owl boxes to encourage the habitation of bluebirds, which eat insects that are harmful to the grapevines, and owls, which eat gophers and other critters that can damage the vines.