Antinori take ownership of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars from Ste Michelle Wine Estates

Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy’s oldest family-owned fine wine producers, has acquired full ownership of Napa’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as Ste. Michelle Wine Estate refocuses on the Pacific Northwest.  

The celebrated Napa winery, which is often referred to as America’s ‘Premier Cru’ was founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970, and shot to fame after its inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon  beat wines from Bordeaux châteaux such as Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion at the celebrated 1976 Judgement of Paris. However, Warren Winiarski, a personal friend of Piero Antorini sold the estate to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Antinori for a reported $185 million in 2007.  The partnership saw Ste Michelle acquire an 85% stake in the business, with Antinori owning the remaining 15%.

However, in July 2021, it as announced that Ste Michelle Wine Estates, the US’s largest wine estates, had been sold to a private equity firm New York based Sycamore Partners for US$1.2billion.

Piero Antinori, honorary president for Marchesi Antinori said there were few opportunities in one’s lifetime when “such an important and historical winery as Stag’s Leap is available” and he thanked Ste Michelle Wine Estates for the “great occasion” and opportunity.

“It is a source of pride for me and my family to have the possibility to confirm the promise made to my friend Warren Winiarski 16 years ago, to preserve the legacy and the values of such a prestigious estate as Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is,” he added.

Shawn Conway, chief executive officer for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates wished the family well in carrying Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar’s legacy into the future, saying it had been “an honour” partnering with them to build on the “incredible history” of the winery over the last 16 years.

However he added that the company’s 90-year roots lay in the Pacific Northwest, which is “where the future of our company lies, as well”.

“This move enables us to better focus our energy and resources on the part of our business with the greatest potential for growth – our Pacific Northwest portfolio,” he said.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970, six years before the famous contest that put it on the map – not to be confused with the neighbouring  estates, Stags’ Leap Winery, which was founded in 1893.

Antinori is one of Italy’s oldest winemaking families, having been making wine for over 635 years, spanning 26 generations. It is one of the only  Italian wine-producer to own a winery in Napa, the result of Marchese Piero Antinori falling in love with Napa Valley on his first visit to the region in the 1960s. In addition to the original stake in Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar, they bought a 200-hectare wine estate Antica, in 1993, which became part of Antinori Napa Valley.