Winery of the month - St. Supéry Estate Vineyards

06.11.2024

St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery is a Napa Valley winery that farms sustainably and is our November Winery of the Month. St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery is located in the renowned Rutherford growing region in the heart of Napa Valley. They are especially recognized for their exceptional Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and proprietary red and white blends. All wines are grown, produced and bottled on their own property.

History and present

The history of the St. Supéry winery dates back to 1920. At that time, Robert Skalli began producing wine in Algeria. His son Francis Skalli subsequently developed the family estate in Corsica and founded a wine importing company. In the 1970s, Francis' son Robert Skalli then travels to Napa Valley while building a winery in Sete, France. Robert and his uncle and cousins dream of creating a prestigious wine business in California's Napa Valley.

In 1982, Robert Skalli purchases the Dollarhide Ranch, a 1,500-acre ranch in the northeastern mountains of Napa Valley, which contains nearly 500 acres of vineyards. And that's the beginning of the St. Supery winery era. They would subsequently buy another 56 acres in Rutherford, which would become the winery's current headquarters.

The winery continues to grow and become increasingly successful. From the outset, St. Supéry has been committed to sustainable and environmentally friendly viticulture and winemaking. These efforts are recognized in 2008 and St. Supéry Estate Vineyards is awarded the Napa Green Vineyards certification.

In 2009, Emma Swain joins St. Supéry as Director of Winemaking and Michael Scholz returns as Vice President of Winemaking and Vineyards. You'll still find them in these leadership positions today.

From 2009-2013, the winery invests heavily in its development, new sustainable production technologies and improved infrastructure. As a result, the winery earned another certification, which is Napa Green Winery.

Three years later, in 2015, the Skalli family sells St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery to CHANEL, Inc. offering them the unique opportunity to own a significant vineyard in the Napa Valley, expanding their wine portfolio which includes Château Canon, Château Rauzan-Ségla, Château Berliquet and Domaine de l' Ile.

In 2023, St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery acquires a vineyard in the Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley. The 48-acre vineyard is planted to 42 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, bringing the winery's Napa Valley land holdings to more than 1,600 acres with more than 575 acres developed for vineyards.

At St. Supéry, you'll find high-quality, estate-grown wines without compromise. Sustainable farming protects the land and the environment for future generations.

Certification Napa Green Vineyards & Winery

Napa Green Vineyards is a certification providing growers with a pathway to improve soil health, become carbon neutral to negative within six to nine years, and increase the resilience of vineyards, businesses, and the community as a whole. The Napa Green Vineyards certification standards have a total of six core elements:

Social Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Standards, which include direct input and feedback from farmworkers.
Implementation of regenerative silver, soil health and carbon farm plans.
Evaluation of irrigation and water use efficiency.
Managing forests for health and fire resilience (if applicable).
Compliance with the list of banned and restricted pesticides.
Climate-friendly burning and alternatives.

Napa Green Winery is one of four sustainable winegrowing programs nationwide that offer comprehensive certification from soil to bottle, both in the vineyard and at the winery.40% of all sustainable certified wineries in California are located in Napa County These wineries implement more than 120 sustainability and management standards that:

Save energy and water and increase efficiency,
prevent waste through recycling, composting and environmentally preferable purchasing,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the winery's carbon footprint,
commit to social justice.
The entire facility is certified from production to administration to hospitality.

Sustainability

Vice President Michael Scholz and Winemaker Brooke Shenk's mission is to produce exceptional, luxury-class wines with perfect balance and depth from 100% estate-grown grapes. Their efforts to enhance and maintain quality include specific practices, some of which are definitely worth noting and make St. Supéry a truly exceptional winery:

Manual and optical sorting of the grapes ensures that only intact fruit makes it to the fermentation stage.
Due to the diverse terroir of the more than 500 acres of production, the winemaking team often ferments the blocks separately to preserve their individual characteristics.
Small-batch, open fermentation for red wines to increase complexity and ensure fine tannins.
Punchdown devices keep the juice and skins in contact with each other during fermentation without the use of extraction pumps.
Racks that allow barrels to be turned over as needed several times a day to gently combine the contents.
The use of a traditional basket press for selected batches that require handling with kid gloves.
Oak barrels of various sizes, fired to St. Supéry's exact specifications.

Rutherford and Dollarhide Vineyards

Rutherford Estate Vineyard

The Rutherford Vineyard surrounds a winery in the famous Rutherford wine region along Route 29. The 35 acres of Napa Green Vineyard Gold Level certified vineyards feature Bordeaux red varietals: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and cabernet franc. With three soil types and an elevation of 154 feet, Rutherford has a Mediterranean climate of warm days, cool nights and a long, dry growing season. These conditions are just right for the Bordeaux red varietals that make up the proprietary red blend of Élu, as well as St. Supéry's Rutherford Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc - three of the vineyard's standout varietals, including RU3 (RU3 is the best limited edition blend from Rutherford Estate Vineyards).

Rutherford Estate Vineyard is located on the so-called "Rutherford Bench" of mineral-rich alluvial (river) soils from the loamy sandy soils of the Mayacamas Mountains. The deep, well-drained soils allow the vine's root system to extract nutrients and water, giving the fruit complex and concentrated flavors.

Rutherford Estate Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard

In 2023, St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery acquired its third vineyard in Napa Valley. The 48-acre vineyard is located just north of the winery in the famed Rutherford wine region and is planted to 42 acres of Sauvignon Blanc and is Napa Green Vineyard and California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certified. With complex soil types and an elevation of 154 feet, Rutherford Estate Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard has a Mediterranean climate of warm days, cool nights and a long, dry growing season. These conditions are ideal for white Bordeaux varieties. Fruit from this vineyard is used for St. Supéry Rutherford Estate Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc and Napa Valley Estate Sauvignon Blanc.

It's worth noting that in combination with Dollarhide Ranch, St. Supéry now grows nearly 10% of all the Sauvignon Blanc in the Napa Valley, all under the Napa Green certification.

Dollarhide Estate Vineyard

Dollarhide Estate Ranch, located in the northeast hills of Napa Valley, is a valley within a valley and has over 1,530 acres, with over 500 planted vineyards, all certified Napa Green Vineyard. The oldest vineyards on Dollarhide Estate, now more than 30 years old, produce the full-bodied, robust Cabernet Sauvignon and bold Sauvignon Blanc wines on which St. Supéry's reputation was built. With vineyards ranging in elevation from 600 to 1,100 feet above sea level, seven different soil series, 13 soil variations and unique microclimates, Dollarhide combines to create a particularly welcoming environment for growing Bordeaux varietals.

Soil diversity and biodiversity

Each plot is planted with a different vineyard, taking into account the quality and diversity of the terrain, the different soil composition and the different topography. The vineyard parcels are then managed separately to ensure that the vines thrive in their characteristic locations. This process ensures the unique characteristics of each variety, which is what makes St. Supéry wines so unique.

The fact that most of the parcels remain in their natural state, with a diverse collection of flora and fauna including ducks, geese, cranes, herons, egrets, rabbits, owls, bees, foxes, eagles, otters, bobcats and thousands of tolstolobic perch, adds to the uniqueness. The ranch is home to more than 1,200 heirloom fruit trees consisting of 190 varieties, specifically 87 varieties of peach, 34 nectarines, 20 apple, 12 plum and 16 plum trees.

What wines can you find in the portfolio of the St. Supéry winery?

Wines from one vineyard, Rutherford and Dollarhide Estate Vineyard

Single vineyard wines from Rutherford Estate Vineyard have the luxurious texture and lingering finish of fine-grained tannins attributed to Rutherford's dusty soils, while the oldest vines on Dollarhide Estate Vineyard, now more than 30 years old, produce the full-bodied, characterful wines on which St. Supéry Estate's reputation was built.

Napa Valley Estate Virtú and Élu

These elegant blends of Bordeaux varietals are created out of a desire to produce wines that are a unique reflection of each vintage.

Napa Valley Estate Wines

Napa Valley Estate wines are balanced and offer bright, fruity flavors that are decidedly Napa Valley.

A specialty is the Andrew Jackson Dollarhide: Spirit of St. Supéry - a limited edition craft brandy that showcases the incredibly unique qualities of muscat canelli and is ideal for cocktails or served neat, chilled.

For St. Supéry Winery, the goal is not only to produce luxurious delicious wines, but also to protect nature and sustainability. Their responsible approach to caring for the land, the fauna, the flora, and the community is producing real results. Respect for the specifics of growing each variety is evident every time you taste their great wines. Let's not forget the commitment to the community. St. Supéry Winery is also committed to charitable support, philanthropic entrepreneurs, education, social justice and mental health. We can say that this is a new generation business that cares about its surroundings, the environment and the community. And that is a direction worth appreciating.

Sources:

https://www.stsupery.com/

https://napagreen.org/

6.11.2024