St. Supéry Vineyards & Winery
One of Sauvignon Blanc’ specialists in the Napa Valley
St Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery is located in the renowned Rutherford growing region in the heart of Napa Valley located on St. Helena Highway.
St. Supéry was founded in 1982 by Robert Skalli. The Skalli family also Terra Vecchia on Corsica and a winery in Sète, France and established a wine import company in the the South of France.
Recognizing the great potential of Californian terroirs, the Skalli family spent eight years searching for the perfect location to expand the family business in Napa Valley in the 70’s. It was not until 1982 that Robert Skalli found Dollarhide ranch and its “ideal soil” in the northeastern hills of Napa Valley. The Skalli’s immediately acquired the 1,500+ acres (607 hectares). At the time, this purchase seemed a little surprising because this part of the Napa Valley was relatively unknown.
Shortly after acquiring Dollarhide the opportunity to purchase 56 acres (22.6 hectares) in Rutherford appeared. The Skalli family planted 35 acres of vines on the property and built the hospitality and winery. In 1989, St Supéry opened to the public for tastings.
Today St Supéry Vineyards and Winery has 1,556 acres (625 hectares) with 510 acres (206 hectares) of sustainably farmed vineyards planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay, Muscat Canelli, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Each year the property produces on average 100,000 cases of wine. Production is currently sold in the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, China and London.
With St. Supéry’s reputation based on its valuable Napa Valley properties, a primary goal is to support biodiversity and sustainability while continuing the founding vision of a Napa Valley château for generations to come.
Where does the name of St Supéry Winery come from?
“The name is a tribute to Edward St. Supéry who owned the property who bought this land in the 18th century. ”
Focus on Michael Scholz, winemaker St Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery
“I was born and grew up in Australia. I worked for wineries in Australia, South Africa Sonoma and Napa. When the opportunity was presented to come to work at St. Supéry I jumped at the chance.
I love making wine and I grew up in a family of wine growers. I have always lived in the world of wine from the vines. I did everything in the vineyard from a young age. Although I’ve been through all positions both in the vineyard and in the cellar. Wine remains for me a beautiful mystery.
I enjoy the different facets of my work. I love working in the vineyard to continuously improve the quality of the berries and in the cellar to transform grapes into fine wine. It is exciting to see the wines evolve during vinification, and the work in the vineyard relaized ; reflecting the essence of our terroir. The work in the vineyard is very important and I love being there. The blends also fascinate me and they are a fantastic and very important part of my work. A wine is a child who needs time and attention to grow. I have a good ‘feeling’ in the vineyard, a good vision of what we want to do and not do and that is important. I’m very focused and place extreme importance on every detail in my work ”
What is the signature wine of St Supéry Winery ?
“When Sauvignon Blanc was first planted on the property in 1983, we made a soil study of the vineyard to matched the varietal planting to the blocks. We planted Clone 1 Sauvignon Blanc, the original clone as Château d’Yquem. Our soils are varied and that defines our wines. They are very opulent wines, perfectly balanced, very brilliant and expressive. They offer very good structure. We are able to keep a nice acidity due to the climatic conditions of our region. We have plenty of sunshine and very hot days but significantly cooler nights. Our Sauvignon Blanc is planted on 220 acres (89 hectares). Like all of our wines, this wine is 100% Estate Grown (not purchased grapes).
We have two vineyards in the Napa Valley: Dollarhide and Rutherford. Being on different soils allows us to have more diversity in aromatic qualities and strucutre. Rutherford produces wines that are elegant and offer a beautiful density, pretty, fine tannins and a nice texture. The Dollarhide vineyard is higher in altitude than Rutherford. It is between 182 (600 feet) and 365 meters (1100 feet) above sea level. In the vineyard there are seven major types of soil with each variation that makes us a total of 13 soil variations which are very distinct. It has a particularly favorable microclimate being its own valley within Napa Valley. Dollarhide gives us particulary aromatic wines, more structured tannins and with a bit bigger and more impacting tannins than on Rutherford. “(Emma Swain, CEO and Michael Scholz, winemaker)
Do you have specific future plans for St Supéry ?
“We wish to continue to focus on quality: micromanaging every aspect for continous improvement. We began renewing our production equipment in 2009. In 2012 we included the purchase of an optical sorting table which allowed for all of our red fruit to be either hand or optically sorted. We continually enhance visitor experiences with delights from our garden that our chef pairs daily with our wines. In all that we undertake, as before with the Skalli family and with Chanel today we have a long term vision of quality. ”
Do you have an anecdote about St. Supéry ?
“Every day is an anecdote. We are fortunate to live in a truly amazing setting. There is a relaxed lifestyle, an exceptional landscape, delicious products from the land, with great abundance and diversity from meat, cheese and olive oil to diverse world-class wines. Despite the fact that we have worked here for decades the beauty of this site always surprises us and we strive to leave it unchanged.
Recently we began to produce a brandy made from 100% Muscat Canelli and it has not spent time in barrel. It is available on the property as well as in some restaurants in the area. While many use it for cocktails, it is delicious served neat. “(Emma Swain, CEO and Michael Scholz, winemaker)
Thanks to Emma Swain and Michael Scholz for their warm welcome.
Choukroun Chicheportiche Jonathan
St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery
8440 St. Helena Hwy., PO Box 38
Rutherford, CA 94573
707.963.4507
