The winery is located north of the city of Napa in the AVA area of Oakville in California's Napa Valley. The property, which at the time had an area of 57 hectares, was purchased in 1986 by former real estate agent Jean Phillips. He sold most of the vineyards to other wineries and kept only one tiny vineyard of one acre (1 acre is 4,047 m²), which was planted with about 80 vines of Cabernet Sauvignon. He sought advice from Mondavi Winery specialists on vineyard potential and then hired consultant Richard Peterson. His daughter, Heidi Peterson Barrett, was the first winemaker to be responsible. From the first vintage in 1992 only 225 cases were produced. Through the evaluation with 99 points by Robert M. Parker (quote "exceptionally impressive") the wine suddenly became known and famous worldwide. At an auction held in Napa Valley, Chase Bailey (former chairman of the IT company Cisco Systems) paid US$ 500,000 for a six-liter bottle of the first vintage at a charity event in 2000 (at that time there were only two bottles left). This makes it the most expensive wine bottle in the world.
In 2006 the estate was acquired by billionaires Charles Banks and Stanley Kroenke (owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment). David Abreu was hired as the person responsible for the vineyards and Michel Rolland was hired as a consultant for winemaking. The first step was to partially replant the vineyards. Since 2009 Stanley Kroenke is the sole owner (he is also the owner of the holding company of the English Premier League football club Arsenal). Today, the vineyards cover around 20 hectares, planted with the red wine varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, as well as a small amount of Sauvignon Blanc. The red wine is characterised by a remarkable purity and dense, aromatic fruitiness. Only about 400 to 750 cases (5.000 to 9.000 bottles) are produced annually; due to the small quantity, it is also called garage wine. A 0.75 litre bottle costs on average about $ 3,000 and can usually only be purchased by subscription (pre-order).
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Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien