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How international winemakers became enamoured with Napa
Ahead of a Wine Paris discussion titled ‘Why Napa Valley?’, db explores a long history of welcoming external investment to the Golden State.
In both Napa Valley specifically and California more generally, winemaking would not have progressed without external influence. That much is self-evident. California’s story is one of immigration, and its wine industry mirrors that openness.
It is believed the very first winemakers in California were Spanish missionaries, who brought European vines for the production of communion wine. Those first plantings, from 1769, thus represent a truly international project, which was not guaranteed given California’s native vines.
Turning to Napa itself, its first winegrower was a US native. George Calvert Yount first planted Vitis vinifera grapes in 1838.
Yet the influential names of Napa’s early wine industry show the influence of immigration. Gustave Niebaum (founder of Inglenook) hailed from Finland, while Charles Krug, Jacob Beringer and Jacob Schram all emigrated from Germany.
Yet it is not just the traditional stories of immigration that have opened Napa Valley to the world. As a region in the so-called ‘New World’, Napa has a longer history than most of welcoming international investment.
The perfect case study is one of its most famous bottles. Opus One, a collaboration between Californian Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild (of Bordeaux fame) has proved the merits of such collaboration since 1979.
So why has Napa Valley become such an important centre for external investment, and how does that trend look in the 21st Century? The Wine Paris panel discussion will give insight direct from key players, but in the meantime, Napa’s history gives plenty of clues to its enduring appeal.
Making a case for prestige outside of Europe
The world of wine is, fortunately, no longer bound to the parts of Europe with historically renowned wine regions. There are plenty of areas around the world (indeed, several in the overlooked parts of Europe) that have achieved international prestige.
Yet Napa Valley stands out as a particular example of that broadened perspective. It was not only one of the early so-called ‘New World’ regions to gain an international platform, but one that drove the narrative of winemaking excellence beyond Europe.
At this point, one cannot help but mention the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. It still inspires passionate debate: some in the industry might ask whether its impact has been overstated or if a different methodology might have yielded different results. Yet you cannot deny its ability to grab headlines.
As the first major blind tasting to pit the wines of France and the USA against each other, it demonstrated that the two nations could compete. With wines from Napa Valley winning both the white and red categories, Napa was suddenly mentioned in the same breath as some of the world’s most illustrious producers. That, naturally, put Napa Valley on the radar for future investment.
Looking beyond the headline tasting
Yet the tasting’s impact was so strong because it confirmed a trend rather than invented one. International onlookers may have let the tasting turn their heads, but a cursory look at the wines would prove it was more than just a fluke. Napa Valley Vintners, for instance, had been founded decades earlier in 1944 to elevate the status of Napa Valley.
Perhaps no greater evidence of prestige comes than the region’s most famous international collaboration. Opus One, a meeting of Napa expert Robert Mondavi and Bordeaux’s famed Baron Philippe de Rothschild, launched with the 1979 vintage. Such quick succession would indicate that, although the 1976 tasting may have helped with prestige, the foundations for world-leading winemaking were already there.
Indeed, in the years since, the influx of influential international winemakers has indicated that the 1976 tasting was an important element of Napa’s story, but not the predominant event.
Producers have joined in recognition of excellence and prestige, even long after the tasting’s results became historical context rather than an accurate predictor of quality.

Often, they will even reference that prestige in their rationale. AXA Millésimes, for instance, sought out “a vineyard property in Napa Valley capable of making wines with the dimension of greatness that we are looking for.” That search led it to purchase Outpost Wines in 2018.
One of Italy’s most imoprtant winemaking families has also embraced Napa Valley’s potential. The Antinori family first became entranced by the region in the 1970s, and has owned Antinori Napa Valley for several decades.
More recently, Piero Antinori recognised the prestige In Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (a property that has built on its success in the famous tasting). As his family company took ownership of the property in 2023, he described it as a possibility “to preserve the legacy and the values of such a prestigious estate as Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is”.
The ‘Burgundisation’ of Napa
As external investment in Napa Valley continues, the region is itself starting to mirror other regions. The division and subdivision of areas based on terroir is strongly associated with Europe, led by early standard-bearers such as Tokaj, Chianti and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Napa Valley, understandably, came late to that party. Wines from the Americas were historically treated much more monolithically, representing an entire nation or, at best, a large region.
Things changed, however, in 1981. Napa Valley became the US’s second American Viticultural Area (AVA) and the first in California. This was a statement of quality, that Napa Valley wines were worthy of special recognition and had a unique character.
Yet that has not been the end. The region has progressively added sub-AVAs, from Los Carneros (the famous region shared with Sonoma) in 1983 to Crystal Springs in October of last year.

Such sub-divisions have encouraged the idea that terroir matters in Napa Valley. It is not a single region, but rather a connected collection of high-quality terroirs. The AVAs have fostered that sense that a wine can be more precise than ‘just’ Napa, and indeed many producers now shout loudly about the qualities of their individual vineyards.
It is a trajectory that led Napa icon Tor Kenward to liken it to the home of terroir: “I always felt Napa should be replicating Burgundy much more than Bordeaux.”
Such a vision of Napa is a reason that external investors are getting involved. Jean-Guillaume Prats, at the time in charge of LVMH-owned Newton Vineyard, said in 2018: “There is clearly a sense of recognising the terroir, and expressing that in the wine, which was probably not the case 20 years ago.”
Indeed, in the db archives, you can see the appeal of taking an international approach. In an article from 2014, Adam Lechmere quizzed the French winemakers taking their craft to Napa. For many, the appeal was in its varied terroir, and the unique qualities that might give a wine.
It is clear that Napa Valley has a special appeal for lovers of fine wine. Though an openness to the world is baked into the region’s history, Napa’s ever-growing prestige and the recognition of its varied terroirs means that international players continue to find new opportunities in this pocket of California.
‘Why Napa Valley?’ is a question every producer must answer for themselves. One thing is clear, however: no foreign investor or winemaker has made the leap without a compelling reason.
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