Swanson Cellars

We are a family winery founded on a passion for evolving the existing standards of wine and food. In the 1950s, long before founding Swanson Vineyards, the Swanson family introduced the first lifestyle product, Swanson frozen dinners, which helped women get out of the kitchen and enjoy life.

In 1985, at his 25th Stanford University reunion, W. Clarke Swanson, Jr. was inspired by a tip from a fraternity brother and successful vintner to purchase a parcel of vineyard land on the Oakville Cross Road in the heart of Napa Valley.

Clarke immediately hired André Tchelistcheff, one of the century’s most influential winemakers, as a consultant to help determine how to make the best use of the vineyards. For André the answer was to plant the then relatively unknown variety merlot—a move that would shape the future of Swanson Vineyards.

The family continues to expand the simple and sensual pleasures of life through Swanson Vineyards. With an eye toward quality, relevance and innovation, the next generation is enticing a whole new audience with a progressive approach to wine, food and the good life.

Swanson’s Founding & Current Winemakers
By the summer of 1987 the vineyards were replanted, and André made another influential suggestion—to hire the young novice talent Marco Cappelli to oversee winemaking. Marco, a first-generation Italian-American, was 26 and hired based on André’s gut instinct. It was a wise decision; Marco’s distinctive wines became the founding flavors of Swanson Vineyards.

For the rest of his life André lent his visionary talents to our winemaking pursuits, meeting with Marco biweekly and consulting on matters of the vine and winery. Marco remained Swanson's winemaker for seventeen years, after which he purchased his own vineyard in the California Foothills. Marco is currently making four dessert wines for Swanson, which include Angelica, Crepuscule, Arsene, and Les Trois Filles.

In 2003, Swanson Vineyards was fortunate to obtain the talent of Chris Phelps as its new winemaker. Chris has had an illustrious career in the wine industry, first as winemaker at Dominus for twelve years and at Caymus Vineyards for six years. His wines are more refined and sophisticated than ever, yet they remain delightfully accessible and approachable—the perfect embodiment of our trademark decadence with a wink.

To read more about Marco and Chris, please click here.

Distinctive Wines
In retrospect, the decision to produce merlot was the first pivotal move that enabled us to establish a distinct identity as an innovator. It was this distinction that allowed us to continue on an unconventional path, producing lesser-known varietals such as petite sirah, sangiovese, and a rosato of syrah. Today, with 100 vineyard acres in the Oakville appellation, Swanson is committed to outstanding and sustainable vineyard practices that nurture merlot, cabernet sauvignon, pinot grigio and other small lots of distinctive varietals.

The Swanson Vineyards Salon
After 14 years of making such refined and innovative wines, we opened our private tasting salon in 2000. As the first luxury wine-tasting salon in the United States, it offers only three seatings per day and takes tasting out of the wine glass and into the context of real-life enjoyment.

Your order will be fulfilled by Winetasting.com.
This vendor is located at 578 Gateway Drive, Napa, CA 94558