by David Haley
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Marchese Piero Antinori of Italy To Acquire Winery
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (www.cask23.com), one of the world's most highly regarded winery estates and currently owned by the Winiarski family, is being acquired by the joint venture partnership of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates of Washington State (Ste-Michelle.com) and Marchese Piero Antinori of Italy (Antinori).
The sale includes the estate's extraordinary brand, spectacular Napa Valley winery, and its signature Napa Valley estate vineyards, S.L.V. and Fay. The Winiarski family looks forward to continued grape growing and will retain its Arcadia property to furnish grapes for the winery's estate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Today, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' Estate S.L.V., Fay and Arcadia Vineyards are known for their distinctive world-class wines, and their icon brand CASK 23 has been recognized as one of the top luxury wines of California for three decades. Its Napa Valley collection, including ARTEMIS Cabernet Sauvignon and KARIA Chardonnay, are crafted with the same approach to winemaking as the limited-production Estate wines, resulting in wines of supple firmness and elegance.
"Stag's Leap Wine Cellars perfectly fits our shared vision of producing wines from historic vineyard sites, and for Ste. Michelle this is a terrific complement to our estate wineries in Washington, Oregon and California," said Ted Baseler, President of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
"There are few opportunities in one's lifetime when such a rare site is available," said Piero Antinori in describing Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' vineyards. "I am looking forward to being involved with this historic estate and becoming intimately familiar with its terroir," he added, referring to the combination of micro-climate and soil.
Antinori - whose family has been making wine for more than 600 years - introduced traditional Bordeaux grapes to Tuscany in the early 1970's. His experiment resulted in Tignanello, the first of the "Super Tuscans."
The Winiarski family's decision to transfer their legacy to the Ste. Michelle and Antinori partnership is rooted in the land. After careful consideration of possibilities, the family identified Ste. Michelle Wine Estates-Antinori as ideal stewards of its brand and property.
"Ted and Piero appreciate the unique, terroir-based characteristics of this estate, so loved by our family," said Warren Winiarski, "and they understand its pivotal importance to Napa Valley's history, and its future. This visionary alliance provides the assurance that the wines will continue to excel as they express the beauty of the land."
This alliance is also grounded in shared historical turning points. After acquiring an appreciation for wine in the mid-1950's as a graduate student in Florence, Italy, Warren Winiarski moved to the Napa Valley during the mid-1960's, where he apprenticed under several influential figures, including legendary Andre Tchelistcheff.
Ste. Michelle was a leader in Washington's nascent wine industry, starting in 1967. Tchelistcheff also influenced Piero Antinori to join forces with the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery to produce the luxury wine Col Solare. The first vintage was 1995.
Warren Winiarski, the founding winemaker, will also remain in an advisory role for three years. See related story: Warren Winiarski: A California Wine Pioneer
Salute,
David Haley
As president of Haley Marketing Group, a New England based wine brokerage, David Haley travels to wine regions around the world to discover exceptional wine values. (He calls it work, but thatâs debatable.) His background in wine spans sixteen years in the wholesale and wine import business with some of the most prestigious importers in America.
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