St. Supéry

Established in the early 1980s, St. Supéry combines Bordelais winemaking tradition with Napa Valley terroir to produce the highest quality estate wines possible. Famed for their acquisition of the Dollarhide Vineyard in the Vaca Mountains, the winery is one of only a handful that can boast 100% estate owned fruit. This, plus their strict adherence to sustainable agriculture and winemaking, have established St. Supéry as a leader of Napa Valley, with consistently great vintages to their name and a bright future to look forward to.

The estate’s most notable holding is undoubtedly the Dollarhide Vineyard, a “valley within a valley”, featuring elevations ranging from 600 to 1,100 feet above sea level, seven different soil series, 13 soil variations and unique microclimates. The 30+ year old vines planted into the undulating slopes at the site produce the core of St. Supéry’s profile, with a diverse ecosystem of hills and lakes sustaining the integrity of the place. The winery has an additional 35 acres managed in Napa Valley, with most of the fruit coming from around them on the eastern side of Highway 29 in Rutherford.

Vice President of Winemaking and Vineyards, Michael Scholz oversees winemaking, in tandem with Winemaker Brooke Shenk. The team have a level of control in the cellar that many winemakers dream about. An optical sorter, as well as two different points for manual sorting, have refined their fruit selection to permit only the most pristine grapes. Small batch fermentations of their more than 500 acres of land provide a broad palate on which to craft their final blends. Custom built French barrels, toasted according to Michael’s instructions, finely meld the style of St Supéry. Beyond this, Michael brings decades of winemaking experience from across the world into the process of crafting each vintage.

Napa Green is the wine industry’s most comprehensive “best practices” program for land-use and wine production, of which St. Supéry is doubly certified both for their land and winery. Biodiversity is greatly encouraged, wherein two thirds of their almost 1,600 acres of land is left untouched. The vineyards themselves are subject to an intensive pest management program, where cover crops suppress weed growth while fostering a home for beneficial insects. Furthermore, the winemaking process is heavily scrutinized, from the sourcing of their bottles (recycled and from North America), to their water usage, to the solar panels above their crush pad which provide over 90% of the winery’s energy. The commitment to sustainable agriculture and winemaking is one of the most rigorous and impressive programs that exists in the wine industry today.