Every year, Wine & Spirits Journal designates its high 100 wineries. Members of the journal’s tasting panel, together with employees, sommeliers and trusted tradespeople, tasted near 10,000 wines from all over the world to develop the checklist. Normal Supervisor Joshua Lowell and Winemaker Jeff Cole will attend the Wine & Spirits High 100 Tasting in San Francisco, CA on October 13, to pour the vineyard’s flagship wines—the 2019 J.O. Sullivan Founder’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and 2019 J.O. Sullivan Founder’s Reserve Merlot—named eponymously after the vineyard’s authentic founder and visionary, James O’Neil Sullivan. To attend, go to: https://www.
Based in 1972, Sullivan Rutherford Property got here underneath new possession in early 2018. Below the management of Managing Associate Juan Pablo Torres Padilla, who introduced collectively a world-class government staff together with Normal Supervisor Joshua Lowell, Winemaker Jeff Cole, Winery Supervisor Mike Wolf, and Property Director Lisa Barker, the Sullivan staff has regularly and intentionally initiated a collection of constant milestones to additional elevate a five-decade basis of laborious work, imaginative and prescient and pioneering spirit within the pursuit of excellence. Collectively, the staff endeavors to be on the forefront of innovation and high quality in vineyards, and to provide memorable wines and experiences, whereas staying genuine to the classical winemaking traditions.
“We’re humbled by the latest recognition Sullivan has acquired from business leaders resembling Wine & Spirits Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle as an acknowledgment of the milestones achieved in our endeavor to create a real Merlot-based “first progress” Property within the Napa Valley,” says Torres Padilla. “We couldn’t obtain our targets with out recognizing and constructing upon the work of these earlier than us. We’re constructing upon almost 200 years of historical past on this property,” he provides.
The heritage of Sullivan Rutherford Property dates again almost two centuries to 1821 when possession of California transitioned from Spain to Mexico. At the moment, the Napa Valley was divided into two parcels—Rancho Caymus to the South, and Rancho Carne Humana to the North. Sullivan’s northern property line lies proper on the heart of this division, which defines the historic and geographic heart of Napa Valley. In 1918, French immigrant Virgile Galleron Sr. acquired simply over 400 acres in Rutherford with the aim of farming the land. In 1952, the position of Virgil Galleron Jr.—who turned the president of the historic Napa Valley Co-operative vineyard for 30 years— was instrumental in reaching an settlement with Gallo vineyard that may turn out to be one of many cornerstones of contemporary Napa. Practically 20 years later, James O’Neil Sullivan based the property in 1972, and in 1978, he acquired the 26-acre Rutherford property from the Galleron household. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines had been first planted per the encouragement of legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff, a buddy of J.O. Sullivan.
Since buying the Sullivan property in 2018, the staff has taken a holistic strategy to construct upon the inspiration of the Rutherford-based Property. With the steerage of Winery Supervisor Mike Wolf, in early 2019 they bought a 12-acre parcel of land within the Soda Canyon space, situated within the japanese foothills of the Napa Valley between the Stags Leap District and Coombsville. This land was developed the next 12 months with an emphasis on planting Merlot and Cabernet Franc. In September 2021, the staff additionally acquired the famend Criscione Winery in St. Helena AVA, situated on the base of Howell Mountain in a small valley influenced by the cooling breezes from the Bell Canyon Reservoir, which has a historical past of manufacturing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. The Criscione property is eighteen acres with roughly half underneath vine. The vineyard’s trajectory was not too long ago referenced within the Wall Avenue Journal by way of the Dow Jones Media Group luxurious journal Barron’s Penta, highlighting the Property’s 50-year historical past and future plans for a broader, extra intensive identification.
Within the close to future, Sullivan plans to interrupt floor on a state-of-the-art vineyard and hospitality facility, designed by famend architect Hans Baldauf of BCV Structure + Interiors and at the moment being additional refined and developed by seasoned architect Orla Huq of Orla Studios. Upon completion inside the subsequent three years, the Property’s title will formally transition to PA Vinea, an prolonged identification that represents the end result of the imaginative and prescient and innovation of pioneers which have formed Rutherford’s historical past over the previous two centuries. The flagship J.O. Sullivan Founder’s Reserve Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings will proceed to symbolize the core wines produced on the property, connecting the imaginative and prescient for the current and the long run with the property’s historical past.
As quoted in Abby Schultz’ Barron’s Penta article, Torres Padilla states,“[We’re] actually aiming at constructing a Napa Valley first progress based mostly on 200 years of historical past.”
For extra details about Sullivan Rutherford Property, please go to: www.sullivanwine.com.
