Stag's Leap Sold

[docsconz]

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

The family-owned winery that put Napa Valley on equal footing with Bordeaux is no longer all in the family.

Warren Winiarski, the former Chicago academic whose 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon stunned the world by beating France's best in the famous Judgment of Paris tasting, stunned the Wine Country when he announced Monday he had sold his Stag's Leap Wine Cellars to a joint venture of Italy's Marchese Piero Antinori and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Washington state's largest winery, for $185 million. The price was disclosed Tuesday morning.

The trend towards the corporaitization of Napa continues.

Also changing hands this week in Napa were William Hill Estate and the brand Canyon Road, both bought by E&J Gallo.

[SiseFromm]

Interesting news and equally interesting to learn the value of a big Napa brand.

The trend towards the corporaitization of Napa continues.

Isn't there another trend though antithetical to this? The trend of small production wineries and ultra-boutique labels popping up at a rapid pace? 2006 & 2007 alone have seen massive quantities of smaller high-end labels enter the market producing as few as a couple hundred cases. The list of $100 bottle entries alone from such wineries must be in the 2 - 3 dozen range. Off the top of my head I can think of Scarecrow, Maybach, Husic, Ghost Block, Bridesmaid, Keever, Buccella, RN Estate, Pharoah Moans, Meander, Rivers Marie, Parallel, Vice Versa, and Coup de Foudre to start. All are just a few vintages old at this point and offer a great counter-point to large corporate handling of classic wineries in Napa and elsewhere in California.

Edited August 2, 2007 by SiseFromm (log)

[Rebel Rose]

Aha! I guessed before I even clicked on the link that the article was written by Jon Bonne! In the past I have been somtimes disgusted by SF Chronicle wine coverage because it has at times been nauseatingly Napa-centric. Jon was previously with MSNBC, and has just moved to San Francisco to take over the wine coverage. I am now looking forward to some real wine journalism coming from the SF Chronicle.

I think his article is very balanced--it looks at the good and the bad, the real estate market, the boom of small wine productions, the drive for brand proliferation among the big beverage companies, etc.

The story's hook is, of course, that Stag's Leap has always been "the little winery that could," a family winery that became famous and highly sought after. So in a way we're losing an icon with the sale of Leap to a corporation.

But there is new momentum, spurred by soaring land prices and changing tastes. The valley has witnessed a boom of tiny wineries, much smaller than the ones just sold, specializing in less than 10,000 cases per year of high-priced wines. Using small vineyard parcels, they often are in heated competition for high scores from critics that make them highly sought-after.

The unspoken question however is: with the astronomical prices of Napa real estate, is it even worth it to try to establish a new brand there?

An online comment from wine critic Robert Parker, July 31, 2007:

Napa has an ocean of over-oaked,under-fruited,overly manipulated industrial wines at boutique price points....as profound as the finest wines of Napa can be ,that address is like a permit to produce mediocre wines(mostly Bordeaux varietals) at deplorable price points.

Discuss?

[SiseFromm]

That's an interesting discussion point. New wineries pop up all the time with $75 - $100 bottles. I wouldn't mind paying that price for the right kind of juice, but it's hard to take that leap of faith based on a label. Unless I've read specific press recommending it, I've got a friend with a trusty palette that's tried it, I've tasted it myself, or I'm a fan of the wine maker, I'm much more likely to pass than to buy. Bottles of Scarecrow are topping out at $625 now for an un-rated wine? Is it really that great? Is it hype? Is it based purely on real estate (those "old man vines" carry a lot of weight)? Tasting in the Valley these days is an expensive endeavor if you plan on purchasing anything beyond one or two bottles. It wouldn't be uncommon to shell out $400+ at a single winery for a half cases and that hurts! The wine market is hot in California right now and although it's an exciting time to be tasting, I wouldn't mind a cooling off period. I get multiple offerings every week and I need another super high-end bottle release like I need a hole in my head.

All of that said, some of the expensive stuff really is delectable and worth seeking out. Worth the price tag? That's a subjective matter. Since I'm usually buying based on research, after tasting, or on recommendation from trustworthy staff at my local shop (Hi-Time Cellars Costa Mesa), I feel confident whenever I pay $30 - $150 a bottle. I can imagine though, that navigating the inflated California wine market without some sort of road map must be an awful thing.

As for "mostly Bordeaux varietals", that continues to be a constant but there are other trends as well. Rhone varietals are popping up more and more in the Valley and in other hot spots (especially in Paso/Sonoma). I don't know if they've always been there and the market is heating up on them, or if they're more recent plantings based on market speculation. Pinot remains consistent, but I'm excited to see Rousanne, Viognier, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah hitting a stride. I'm sure though that Cabernet and Chardonnay will continue to always reign supreme.