Chappellet
The Legends of Prichard Hill
A pall must certainly have fallen over the entire Napa Valley when it was learned a few years ago that legendary Chappellet had pulled out their estate Chenin Blanc vineyard that had been on their Prichard Hill site for decades. It wasn’t a matter of “oh, darn there goes another vineyard.” It was a matter of, “oh, my, there goes Napa Valley’s greatest Chenin Blanc Vineyard.”
Of course, the Chappellets themselves have been on their mountainside estate in Napa Valley for decades. In fact, their winery was only the second built in Napa since prohibition ended. That seems odd given that Prohibition ended in 1933. But the wine boom wasn’t even in site when Donn and Molly Chappellet left business behind to do a little grape growing in Napa in 1967.
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Here’s the really amazing thing about Donn and Molly and about their estate located in the eastern hills of the valley. At the time they purchased the land there was no real concentration on “terroir” in the American wine industry. There was no infrared photography to analyze soil composition from above, no digital weather monitors, and no one was looking up into the mountains thinking, wow, that’s where we’ll get the best fruit.
Yet, somehow, these two people managed to choose what is today considered if not THE best then among the top five places in the Napa Valley to grow grapes. How’d they do that?
The answer is Andre Tchelistcheff, the great winemaker from Beaulieu Vineyards who played as much role as anyone to demonstrate the world-class potential of this rare stretch of land north of San Francisco. The Chappellets consulted with “the man” on where to buy land in the Valley and where to plant their vineyard. Apparently he pointed to a desolate, rocky piece of hillside land on the east side of the Valley and that’s exactly where Chappellet was planted.
Land isn’t the only thing for which the Chappellets seem to have a golden touch. They are pretty darn good at picking winemakers. Over the years their winemakers have included Philip Togni, Joe Cafaro, Cathy Corison, Tony Soter and, today, Phillipe Corallo-Titus. Basically what you have here is one of the most impressive collection of winemakers in the world ever to make wine for a single winery.
Today, the area where Chappellet resides is called “Pritchard’s Hill”. The latecomers to this area are folks like Bryant Family and Dalla Valla Winery. Sometimes these folks get more attention than the Chappellets. But no one knows Prichard Hill like the Chappellets. The best evidence of that is their Cabernet Sauvignon. These are wines that seem to live forever, regularly walking away with 90+ points from the critics and remaining among the most sought after wines in America.
But here’s the really good part about it all. The Chappellets went and replanted Chenin Blanc up on their amazing hillside ... and a loud and boisterous cheer was heard throughout the land.
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This vendor is located at 2545 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa, CA, 94558.
