St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery, which is owned by the French fashion house Chanel, has acquired the Napa Valley-based winery Rudd Estate for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction includes the Rudd Estate Oakville property, brand and wines, St. Supéry told Just Drinks.
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In a statement, St. Supéry said it will continue to make wines from the Rudd Estate and will sell already bottled products through its wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels.
“This remarkable estate will be preserved and cultivated with the same dedication to craft and generational thinking that has defined both organisations,” the statement read.
Rudd Estate’s winemaker Natalie Bath and managing director Oscar Henquet are moving to St. Supéry as part of the transaction, along with the “majority” of the existing team.
Emma Swain, the CEO of St. Supéry, said: “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.”
St. Supéry told Just Drinks Rudd Estate’s wines are currently sold direct-to-consumer “through allocation” and wholesalers in the US.
Exports of its products are limited, with small volumes being shipped to markets including Belgium and the UK and Japan.
Asked whether it expects to broaden sales into retail or on-trade channels over the next 18 months, the company said it will continue with its “current model of allocations” and work with its trade partners.
St. Supéry added the next 18 months will be “business as usual” for Rudd Estate, and that the focus would be on developing the wines and the brand while building its international presence.
“Being all estate at both wineries, growth is determined by our vineyards each season,” the company added. “Our estates dictate how we grow and we will continue to farm green. To grow in Napa Valley and remain all estate requires acquisitions. St. Supéry was able to grow its Sauvignon Blanc production in 2023 through the purchase of a vineyard in Rutherford just north of the winery.”
In August 2023, St. Supéry acquired vineyard assets from California’s Long Meadow Ranch (LMR) Wine Estates. It included a 48-acre vineyard in Rutherford, Napa Valley, with 42 acres of Sauvignon Blanc vines.
St. Supéry owns 1,700 acres of land and 620 acres planted to vines, across the Dollarhide Estate Vineyard in north-eastern Napa Valley, two Rutherford Estate vineyards, and now Rudd Estate in Oakville.
Founded in 1982, the group is known for Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The French fashion giant Chanel bought St. Supéry in 2015.
St. Supéry’s wines are sold via direct-to-consumer and have national distribution in the US.
Internationally, it sells its wines through merchants which include Jeroboams in the UK, Ulysse Cazabonne in Europe and East Meets West in Asia, as well as Enoteca in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, alongside other distributors including in Calgary, Canada.
The company declined to share its latest turnover but said it recorded another year of “double-digit” growth led by Sauvignon Blanc.
