1997 St. Supery Meritage

St. Supery Vineyard & Winery is in Rutherford, Napa Valley. It was founded in 1989 the Skalli family of France, owners of a large group of food and wine businesses. The 200-acre estate was named for Edward St. Supery, a French winemaker who made wine on the property in the late 19th century. The Skalli family still owns the estate, as well as several estates in France. St. Supery grows numerous red and white grapes, and makes a broad portfolio of wines. Some of the flagship wines are the single vineyard wines from the Dollarhide Estate Vineyard. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Bordeaux blends, the estate makes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and white blends.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,