Chanel-owned St. Supéry acquires Rudd Estate
Napa Valley producer St. Supéry, owned by French fashion house Chanel, has acquired Rudd Estate in Oakville, saying it’s “exactly the kind of place we feel called to nurture”.
St. Supéry acquired full ownership of Rudd Estate on 13 April, bringing its holdings up to 1,650 acres (667 ha) of land. Rudd joins the Dollarhide Estate Vineyard in northeastern Napa Valley, and two Rutherford Estate Vineyards within St Supéry’s growing portfolio.
The sale includes the winery’s 65-acre (26ha) estate, as well as the Crossroads by Rudd brand, which offers wines from the estate vineyard at a more approachable price point with bottles starting at about US$50.
Emma Swain, CEO of St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery, called it “an exciting next chapter” for Rudd and vowed the site would be “preserved and cultivated with the same dedication to craft and generational thinking that has defined both organisations”.
Generation game
The decision to sell the wine estate follows the death of co-founder Leslie Rudd in 2018, and has been partially attributed to his daughter Samantha Rudd wanting to focus on the family’s restaurant business, which includes Press Restaurant (now a Michelin-starred venue) and the adjacent Under Study cafe, both in St Helena, Napa Valley.
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“Press is a place for locals, winemakers, vintners, and guests from around the world to experience the best the Napa Valley has to offer,” says a statement on the restaurant’s website. Samantha Rudd has said she plans to attract “innovative new culinary talents” to Press in order to “highlight Napa Valley cuisine”.
St. Supéry intends to continue producing wines from Rudd Estate and will be offering currently bottled wines for sale through its wholesale and direct to consumer channel.
“Our philosophy has always been one of stewardship – preserving the land and its potential for generations to come,” said Swain. “Rudd Estate’s eastern Oakville region, an area of Napa Valley I have long admired, represents exactly the kind of place we feel called to nurture. We look forward to working hand in hand with the Rudd Estate team to honour the distinctive sense of place this property has spent decades earning.”
Swain added that Rudd and St. Supéry, which uses 100% estate-grown fruit to make its wines, “share a deep commitment to estate wines, craftsmanship, sustainability, and excellence”.
One of Napa’s top Sauvignon Blanc producers, growing almost 10% of the variety in the region, St Supéry has been owned by Chanel since 2015. The French fashion house also owns a further four wine properties, three in Bordeaux (Château Canon, Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Berliquet) and another in Provence (Domaine de l’Ile at Porquerolles).
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