Full Transcript
Doug Shafer:
Welcome back everybody. Doug Shafer, with another episode of The Taste. Very excited about our guest today, longtime friend. We have a lot in common. We both are part of family wineries. We both have, had, have and had wonderful fathers who founded our wineries and we've, we're doing our best to follow in their footsteps. But the one thing we have in common that I don't have in common with any, uh, anybody else in the wine business is high school basketball. So this guy's name is Cyril Chappellet chairman of Chappellet Winery. And I got to tell you, I first met him in the third or fourth week in January, 1973. We had just moved out from Chicago. I check in to school on a Monday morning, the guy checking me in, Cyril it was Pat Delger, remember Pat Delger? And, uh-
Cyril Chappelle:
(laughs) Absolutely.
Doug Shafer:
And he was, uh, admin and also athletic director. And he goes, "Hey, you look like you play some ball." I said, "Sure." So he said, "Well, you know, let's go see the coach." So we saw Herb Berquiez, the basketball coach. He said, "Go home, get your stuff." I came back to practice with the team and I was on the team and that was varsity and I think you were JV. You were a sophomore. I was a junior, but then we played another couple of years together on varsity after that, if I, if my memory holds me well, but welcome Cyril.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yes, uh, basketball, I think it was the first time we met each other and then, uh, and then have grown up together over the years. And I think that what's interesting is that, uh, both of our parents decided that this was where they wanted to be and where they wanted to have their lives. And so my family, which was a family of five, uh, at the time when my parents made this decision to move to the Napa Valley, uh, w- came from Southern California. And, uh, it was my dad's dream and passion to have a winery and be in the wine business and make world-class Cabernet.
Doug Shafer:
Well, yeah, I wanted to ask you about that because in, in, you know, it's so much fun doing these things because I find out even people I know well is I find out things about their lives I never knew. But your dad's dad, you know, tell me about that because he was, you know, very successful guy and then your dad did his own thing too, but, uh, let's talk about your grandfather. He was named Cyril, right?
Cyril Chappelle:
Yep. So I was named after my grandfather and, um, my grandfather, uh, was, uh, a Stanford graduate and his love of life was flying and he started flying in the Army Air Corps, uh, right after college. And, uh, and he became a mail courier flying from Burbank Airport out to, uh, to Arizona Tucson and Phoenix. And during that period of time, this was a few years after college for him ... In the middle of the depression. It was 1932, I believe it was or 31 that, um, my grandfather, uh, found out that the Lockheed hangers were going to be up for sale. And the planes that were in production were up for sale. And my grandfather and my grandmother, uh, got two other friends together and literally went to the courthouse and purchased the assets of the Lockheed company. And that became Lockheed Aircraft. And my grandfather worked for the next 65 years for, for Lockheed as the, uh, on, on the board the whole time and as one of the owners initially. And that was his life. And he just, I mean, the stories are remarkable. The, uh, the items that they created were unbelievable, and they became really a technology company than planes were, planes were there was what they did, planes and missiles and all kinds of stuff. But, uh, one of the things that happened early on was when they started with the four of them, uh, who bought the assets from the bankruptcy court, they made an agreement with each other because they knew they needed to raise money and they needed to go to the public markets that there would be no nepotism within the company. So my father was never able to work there and neither were the Grosses, which was the other family who had bought the Lockheed assets were not able to work for the company directly. And so it wasn't that there was going to be a succession of family within that because they thought that nepotism could be an issue, uh, with a publicly held company, which I think we have seen over the years that, that is an issue. And it can be a challenge, but if you own the company a hundred percent, then you don't have that problem and they didn't own it. Um, because they had to go to the public markets and the company grew substantially to the Lockheed Martin that it is today. And so, um, my grandfather had a very successful career, um, in, uh, in the aerospace industry and, uh, and there's stories upon stories and we could spend, uh, hours just talking about that if you want to do, uh, and ha- be happy to. And sometime maybe when we're having a beer, we can, uh, we can get into some of the interesting, humorous stories of my grandfather negotiating with the Perons to sell planes to Argentina.
Doug Shafer:
Oh wow.
Cyril Chappelle:
You know, I think it's like that. So, so pretty cool stuff. But, um-
Doug Shafer:
Well I'll tell you what, we'll have you back. We'll do the wine thing today, but then we'll have, have you back and we'll tell grandfather stories because I've got a few.
Cyril Chappelle:
Super.
Doug Shafer:
That'd be great. But that's fascinating-
Cyril Chappelle:
Well-
Doug Shafer:
... though what, uh, what, uh, how cool. Because I mean Lockheed. That's why I read this the other day is go Lockheed. Are you kidding me? Really? So, good stuff.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah.
Doug Shafer:
Good stuff.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah.
Doug Shafer:
So your, so that's your granddad and then your dad came along and, um, so he grew up obviously in Southern California and then, uh, where'd he go to school?
Cyril Chappelle:
So my dad went to Pomona, uh, the Claremont Colleges.
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Cyril Chappelle:
And, um, he, uh, he had a high school and elementary school friend of his, a gentleman named Ronald Wolfe. And when they graduated from college, uh, they got back together and started looking at what could they do entrepreneurially. And, uh, Ronnie had an interesting career because his family owned the Fox Theaters in Los Angeles. And Ronnie very quickly took over the concession business, which was the place to make money in a theater because you bought your tickets and that usually paid for the price of the film. But if you want to make money, you sold concessions. And he, um, was running that. And one, uh, w- one evening, uh, my parents got together when they were in their early twenties and, uh, Ronnie had an idea and had met a gentleman who was making a machine in his garage who would make fresh, hot coffee on demand and Ronnie thought, "Hey, that would be great for the theaters, but boy, that would be great for factories and other places." And so my father and Ron went down and met with the gentleman and they worked with him over the next, uh, several months to, uh, build some structure around this machine. And they p- put a vending machine basically around it and had a way of actually, uh, making fresh hot coffee. And that was revolutionary in the, uh, early fifties because coffee was made several hours ahead of time in a big brew facility and then trucked to your facilities. And by the time you drank your first cup of coffee at the office, it was already four or five hours old. This was revolutionary because this was a fresh cup co- coffee you were getting. And so it was basically just a better mouse trap and they were very entrepreneurial. Their company became publicly held and it was on the New York Stock Exchange. And, um, my father and Ronnie ran that company very successfully and built it nationally, uh, over about a 12-year period of time. And at, uh, after that, it was... It became not as entrepreneurial and it became more of just mundane. So it became less interesting for the two founders to, to drive the thing. So both of them decided to start, seek out something else that they wanted to do. They were, I think Ronnie was 36 and my dad was 34 at the time. And my father, uh, my father had, uh, grown a bit of a passion for wine during the time. And, and my father had a, a wine tasting group in Los Angeles that he had got to know, and they were, uh, they were enjoying wonderful wines. And my father said, you know, this might be an interesting career.
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
And so, so he basically, uh, started taking trips up to the Napa Valley to, to look for land and look at the possibility. And what was interesting at that time in 1966 and 67, there had been no new people coming into the Napa Valley.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
There, there was nobody new. I mean, we were the first foreigners to come in and we-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs) Foreigners.
Cyril Chappelle:
... came in and, uh-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... and that's when they considered us, I mean, we had little pageboy haircuts, and we m- I was, I was in fifth grade and the rest of my brothers and sisters, you know, uh, we moved to the Napa Valley back then and, and we were foreigners, everybody else had buzz cuts. And they were all farming kids, uh, at Saint Alena when we g- got there so-
Doug Shafer:
No, I-I remember I was right behind it. This is funny. So what, so some, so your dad got into wine and he, he did it, he did in ‘66. Um, my dad didn't get into wine. He just did it because he heard this was going to be a, uh, a really booming business. Uh, he, he was betting on that, but I remember showing up in ‘73 because I was a junior in high school. You're a sophomore. And I'm with you. I remember that we were, you know, yeah. I, I was an outsider. I mean, we, you know, we got-
Cyril Chappelle:
Totally new kids. That's right.
Doug Shafer:
... along, we had friends, we had new kids and all that, but, but you were in fifth grade, that must have been even, you know, one of the adjustment because you came from Southern California and all of a sudden you're in St. Helena, which as you were saying, and I'll echo it, well you were here before me, but yeah, there weren't new wineries, there weren't new people coming in. That was just, you guys were the start of it and, uh, folks came after.
Cyril Chappelle:
You know, and I don't think that my father was trying to do anything revolutionary and it wasn't, he, he was just had a passion to make really great wine, to see if they could do that. And, and he wanted to have a business that would be a, a logical thoughtful business. And one of the parts that was really critical for dad was that he wanted to have a business that we owned 100%. He did not want to have another publicly held business. Did not want to have a board of directors. Did not want to have any outside influence and wanted to be able to control it. Uh, and, and he ran the business by the seat of his pants. Um, but you know, he had a logical seat of his pants. I mean, your dad, my dad were both very smart and very entrepreneurial and had really had an interest, uh, to kind of do the right thing. And, uh, you know, they were both community spirited. Uh, they, they, they worked with other people, but they were really outsiders, especially when my dad got there, there was, there was nobody, you know, he went and talked to Robert Mondavi who was at that time just pulling away from the Charles Krug Winery-
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Cyril Chappelle:
... and, uh, starting to do his own thing. But that was, you know, we were the second winery after prohibition to be built in the Napa Valley.
Doug Shafer:
Wow.
Cyril Chappelle:
Um, and Robert Mondavi was the first new winery. All the rest were pre-Prohibition wineries that had been reenacted. So, uh, it was, uh, it's kind of a, it was a big, big change. And then, then the, the interesting part of it was that, you know, my father, got guidance from Andre Tchelistcheff who, uh, I think the term was that ‘Don, if I could get more grapes from the hillside, I could make even better wines. So why are you looking at Valley floor? You need to look, be looking at the hillsides and look at the mountains and see what you can find there.’ And there were not a lot of vineyards planted in the hillside, so were very few areas to be able to look at, at that time. And so, um, it turned out that one of my, when dad went up to Pritchard Hill on one of the tours with, uh, with the real estate brokers, um, he looked out from there and said, "God, this is gorgeous. I probably could convince Molly to move up here with the kids...
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... and this might be, might be interesting enough that, that would be kind of fun." And my mother was pretty much of a city girl and, um, my mom and dad had known each other since they were 14 years old and that they met, and they met at a horseback, uh, riding, uh, facility where my dad was training a, a colt. Uh, and the word for my mother was that any person that could be so gentle with this animal who just threw him three times and get back up, uh, is somebody that I get, that I want to get to know. And that was at 14 years old. And I think she just kept hanging out in the barn until he noticed her.
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
So, so, so-
Doug Shafer:
That's a great story.
Cyril Chappelle:
(laughs)
Doug Shafer:
Oh, I love that.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah so-
Doug Shafer:
Um, so she hung in, well, God dude, you know, your parents were beautiful, beautiful people. Um, but how did he find... Interesting comment you made earlier. 'Cause I was going to ask you about other grape-growing areas. Yeah. That, that time there weren't other wine-grape growing areas that were kind of established and well-known there, there they are today, you know, Sonoma and Paso Robles and on and on and on. But you're right back in the mid-sixties. Heck you know, people were still just trying to figure out what fine wine was. I mean, that was just starting. How did your dad find Andre Tchelistcheff? 'Cause he was, he was the guy. H- how do you track him down?
Cyril Chappelle:
Well, if you think about it, when, when my dad came up, he was a businessman, he was trying to figure out what would work and what would... And he went and talked to the Sebastiani's senior, he went and talked to, um, of course, uh, the Mondavi’s and the Mondavi's, uh, and spoke to Bob. And he went and talked to Joe Heitz and some of these people who were there and, uh, during that research, uh, that he was researching... He was 33 and 34 years old when he was doing this.
Doug Shafer:
Just a kid.
Cyril Chappelle:
So, right. And so you, you and I think that, that's half of our ages, right?
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
So just about, and um, and he, he basically did it like any businessman would just try to get as much intel as he possibly could. And during that process, he had been in- introduced to Andre and gotten to know who Andre was. He had some early BV wines in his cellar in Los Angeles, and he knew of the wines that Andre was making. So he already knew about who Andre was. And then when he got up there, he met, met with him and Andre one time said to him, "Don, like you keep coming over here. You keep showing me all these different, these different properties that are available. Why don't you show up tomorrow and I have some wines for you to try, and this will help me with giving you, uh some direction on what you should be looking for." And so, as the story went, uh, he showed up at two o'clock in the afternoon or something. And Andre had four glasses of wine in the little tasting area there and said, "Don, you just try these and I'll be back in a few minutes and we can talk about him." And, uh, he, my dad, he said, "I want you to know which, which of these wines you choose, that you liked the best and which you like the least." And my father tasted the wines. He had a pretty good palette at the time. So he tried the wines and he said, "I like these wines better than those wines." And Andre came back, they talked about it. And Andre said, "This is what I've been telling you. Wines you liked the best are from my hillside selections, uh, that are from barrels that only came from hillside vineyards. I'm telling you that that's what you need... If that's where your palette is, that's what you need to do. And I could make better wines of it, if just had hillside vineyards." So that was what s- changed my father's direction from looking at Valley floor vineyards to only looking at hillside vineyards. So he looked at the Mayacamas property.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
He looked at some, he looked at some other properties, uh, around the valley and, uh, and that's and Pritchard Hill at that time. And the property that dad ended up buying was the original Pritchard family's property that the, that Charles Pritchard in 1863 had come out and purchased for their family's place to get away to and whether they were. They moved from upstate Washington, excuse me, upstate New York to, uh, California and bought this piece of property, uh, which was 320 acres. Um, and then within about six months, my dad bought the other 350 acres next to us. Um, a- also, so our property is a little over 700 acres there that we have. And, uh, and we've never sold that or any property we've continued to buy little chunks of property over the years, but, um, you know, the objective was, uh, to be able to grow grapes. Well, the gentleman who had planted the vineyards, it was not about quality. It was about getting some vineyards there because he was sure that somebody would come by and buy it at some point. So he was really just developing the vineyard as a vineyard development plan. So within the next five years, we started replanting the vineyards. And over the years, everything has been replanted at least once. Some areas, as many as three times over the last 54 years. And, uh, and so it's, it's been an ongoing interest. And for the first 25 years, there were no neighbors whatsoever. We had-
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
Uh, the first neighbor that planted any vineyard up there was, uh, David Long. And, uh, um, but nobody else had, had any other vineyards up there.
Doug Shafer:
No, You guys, it was like, um, I remember because I came from a suburban town of Chicago, so like, you know, just driving from Yountville to St. Helena, the school is like, it was a long haul and now it's like, it's like what we do all the time. But I remember, you know, I don't know if I went up to your house or knew where it was, but it was like, God seemed like it was to hell and gone up, there's long windy road and pass this Lake Hennessey thing. And, you know, then you'd go up this long driveway. It's like, good God, what's it like going to school every day in high school? You know, your mom driving these five kids. I mean, yeah, you guys were out in like the boonies and no one knew what Pritchard Hill was and thanks to you and your family and your quality of wines everybody knows what Pritchard Hill is today. And you've some, with some wonderful neighbors. So, but it was crazy. Yeah. Like I said, it was 25 years. You were, you were the only thing you're out there. Right?
Cyril Chappelle:
Right. And, and I think you're right. I think our mothers need to be given a lot of credit for being the bus-
Doug Shafer:
Yeah. (laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... drivers during all those years. I m- I mean, every one of us had a different sports program and there was, there were six of us and had a different schedule and the bus would pick us up at the bottom of the hill to take us to school. But after that, as far as in the afternoon and the activities, um, there were, there were as many as five or six different kids to pick up at different spots.
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
Had different schedules. And my mother was the consummate bus driver driving that back and forth, uh, for, for all those years.
Doug Shafer:
Let's, you know, we've covered your folks and your family in Pritchard Hill, but what happened to you after high school? I graduated. You had one more year and then you graduated. So what, what was, what was your story?
Cyril Chappelle:
So, um, I ended up at Pepperdine for a couple of years and then went to Cal Poly.
Doug Shafer:
Okay.
Cyril Chappelle:
And went, and went to school at Cal Poly in their, uh, farm management program. And, um, I always thought it'd be great to have a really great big ranch and a big wonderful place with, you know, herds of bison or cows and, and, uh, kind of living on the range. And, uh, probably a little bit like Yellowstone in my view of, uh, kind of the Dutton Ranch was b- the perfect operation for me, if you know the Yellowstone show.
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Cyril Chappelle:
Um, and, uh, you know, and that was in my, in my dream category. Uh, and right after college, I got hired by a, uh, big oil and insurance company out of Jacksonville, Florida. And, uh, I ended up in their corporate planning and development business, side of the company where we were basically analyst and I had to learn how to run numbers and figure out what values companies represented as to whether we should be investing in them or, um, putting money into them or buying them or whatever for the company.
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Cyril Chappelle:
And so I had a... It was a great experience, uh, really marvelous. I m- met some amazing people and I learned an awful lot about the finance side of, of what the value of the company was and how that, the structure, which is very different than the, uh, b- business courses that I'd been taking at Cal Poly, which are much more agriculturally oriented. But, you know, there's an underlying business aspect of all these things that are very critical to what we do now. So actually I think that it probably put me in a fairly good position to understand our business from a, from a broader prospect than I would've, if I had just gone come back, and gotten into the business. But there was also an underlying level that my father had put in, which was that none of us have a right or the company is not having an obligation to take care of any of us, or do we have a right to have a job at Chappellet. And I think that it's the way that he saw that as you had enough passion, you were going to fight hard enough for it, wanting to really be involved with the business. Then, uh, then you better prove that you could do something better than we could hire somebody from the outside to do. And the one place where that fit in for me was, well, my father was a very quiet man and really did not want to get out on the road and did not choose to be on the road. And I was a little more gregarious. And so it was easier for me to get on the road and do that, to help him do, drive the sales of our business. And so that's where it really started for me when I came back, uh, after being in Florida for about five and a half years and basically I was, uh, his national sales-
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
... manager for, for years. And, uh, and little by little, I just started getting more and more responsibility and taking over more and more of, of the business. Um, one thing is interesting is my father was never and never chose to be the winemaker for Chappellet. We've always hired winemakers. We started off with the Phil Togni, uh, back initially when my father first came here, he was able to hire Phil Togni where, away from the winery that he had been working for. My dad really sought out to try to find one of the best wine makers that he could find. And Phil Togni has a remarkable, uh, career of making some incredible wines in the Valley. Um, and, uh, and my dad hired him to be our winemaker. And then over the years, we've had a lot of other people who've come through. Who've kind of been the testing ground for a lot of people to learn about the winemaking business. Um, but the one thing that I'm the most proud about of our winemaking is that my current winemaker that we have right now, he's exactly the same age as you and I are Doug. And he has been with us for 36 years. And so we're not changing winemakers every day, like you and I both know there's other wineries out here, and every time you turn around, they've got a new winemaker and, no, we've stuck with people who are remarkable, good folks doing the right thing and are really dedicated for the long-term. And certainly, uh, Phillip Titus is, is one of those. And I expect that, uh... I hope that he never retires. I hope that we all leave at the same time, whenever that is. Uh, and then, then the other person who's a really, really good friend of yours-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... and a guy that you played basketball with and actually spent a lot of together time with it was Dave Perio and Dave Perio-
Doug Shafer:
Dave Perio.
Cyril Chappelle:
... has now been with us for 35 years.
Doug Shafer:
Wow. I know. Of course, you must be doing something right. Um, yeah, Phil Titus, it's been what, 35, 36 years with you?
Cyril Chappelle:
Thirty, yeah, 37, I think.
Doug Shafer:
Yeah. Which is about the same Elias. in fact, I think they were pals at UC Davis. I-I think-
Cyril Chappelle:
Yep.
Doug Shafer:
They were in the same crowd.
Cyril Chappelle:
And they s- and the st- and I think they still are actually.
Doug Shafer:
Yeah. Oh, yeah. They're good friends. And Dave Perio, (laughs) Dave Perio, is your vineyard manager. And I didn't know that for a long time. And I ran into him somewhere. And, um, it was just so great to see him after he'd been with you about 10 or 15 years and... Because I hadn't seen him. So Dave Perio, everyone was, uh, in Cyril's class at, uh, St. Helena high school. So they were a year behind me. So I'm a senior and these two young bucks are juniors were all on the varsity basketball team. And Dave Perio had the best shot, the best outside jumpshot in the league. Everybody knew him. I mean, the guy was, he averaged what? He averaged 2020 plus points a game. So he was the offense. And, uh, one of the most soft-spoken gentle guys in the world. And, uh, but he was just a killer on, you know, scoring points. But, uh, and I, as I recall, I think I was like, I wasn't a starter. I was like sixth or seventh man. So whenever we scrimmaged in practice, the coach would pull me aside and said, "Okay, you guard Perio. Shafer, you guard Perio. And I want you to make his life miserable. I want you to follow him. I want you to trash talk him. I want you to pull down his pants. You know, when he goes up to jump, you know, you know, stepping on his toes." It was... (laughs) 'Cause, 'cause that's what happened in games. So he wanted to, you know, and it was tough because Dave is the sweetest guy in the world. And here I am, like beating him up. (laughs) I don't know. Cyril I don't know if you ever knew that was going on, but it was pretty, it was pretty interesting.
Cyril Chappelle:
Well, I-I feel really fortunate and Dave is the rock. He is unbelievable. He is unflappable. He is one of the most thoughtful human being. Uh, and he has really recreated, uh, the redevelopment of Pritchard Hill, uh, from our standpoint and all the new plantings of vineyards and all the science that goes along with it, uh, as a Davis graduate, uh, he was traditionally, uh, taught to farm. And now we are farming all organically, which was not the thing to do back in the sixties, but this, it is the thing, but it is such a right way to have these vineyards long term. And, and I hate to overuse the word sustainable because everything is, is talking about sustainability, but, but the long term ability to have a better property in the next generation, uh, comes from really taking care of the property, not denuding it. And so I think that he has become, uh, completely involved with the whole structure of how to farm and how to do things in a sensitive, smart way for the environment and also for the long term, so that the vineyard is continued to getting better and better and better. And it's, it's really kind of fun to see how that's happened and, and it plays out in the quality of the fruit, which makes better wine so.
Doug Shafer:
There you go.
Cyril Chappelle:
It's pretty straight forward.
Doug Shafer:
And how many, how many acres do you ha- guys have up on Pritchard Hill, planted.
Cyril Chappelle:
So, so we have about 140 acres-
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
... of our vineyard of our own there. And then, um, I've put in for permit. Uh, now we're hopefully going to get that, um, qualified and put, put through for another 35 acres or so. Um, up on the hill, we have a lot more land that we could develop. We've chosen to only develop kind of the sweet spots.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And the vast majority of our property is hillside and trees and forest and woods. And, um, and in this case, what, what we're doing right now is doing everything we can do to clear the understory, the underbrush from our forests and our woods, as much as possible, um, to protect ourselves from these fires that we've been challenged-
Doug Shafer:
Sure.
Cyril Chappelle:
... with over the years.
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
So we're just doing what we can do to protect it. And, uh, luckily you and I have some of the same friends, uh, who have protected our properties-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... in our homes and our wineries and the, the Piñas, uh, have, have been there and Jimmy Regusci and some of these guys, uh, tell, protect us. And I, I don't want to rely completely on them. So I want to do this, make sure we're doing everything we can do to have our properties in as best shape as they can be.
Doug Shafer:
Oh, that's good to hear.
Cyril Chappelle:
It's kind of critical. Yeah.
Doug Shafer:
And, and, uh, but flashing back to your mom, who's such a great, great lady. And tell me about her, uh, book publishing business. She's, she's published a few books. Has, is it the one for sure.
Cyril Chappelle:
I think she's, I think she's published four books. Um, and now you're going to challenge me.
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
But A Vineyard Garden was certainly the first one, uh, then there's Gardens of the Napa Valley. Um, and then there's two other ones. There's one about, uh, a c- cave book that she did, which is quite remarkable. But my mother has got a remarkable eye for, uh, for beauty and, uh, she was an art major in college and, uh, and she always had an eye for beauty, but, but I think that the natural beauty that was around her was so impressive when she moved up here that, that became part of her liveliness and her excitement. And so she started taking pictures and, uh, photographing, and then wrote a book about the vineyard garden, which was basically the first 25 years of our life here with some antidotes and stories and, and great pictures in it, uh, of our vineyards and, uh, the gardens and all the things that, that made her happy.
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Cyril Chappelle:
The book was very successful. It went on to a second or third printing and it's pretty timeless and the recipes are still great. Uh, uh, and so, so she's continually taking pictures. She's continually, uh, driven to, to add more beauty to the property and, and anybody else's property that she can get involved with. Uh, she works with, uh, her friend, Ellie Coppola kind of endlessly, and is always getting calls from Ellie to look at this, or look at that and let's see what we can do to, to make the Coppola property even more exciting and more interesting. And, uh, mom's, uh, last 54 years in the Valley have really brought her to a level where she's very well respected in that regard, and it's a big part of her life. So, yeah, so her, her publishing, I don't think that she did it for the publishing standpoint. I think she did it as a venue of her art.
Cyril Chappelle:
To have other people understand what, what she was doing. And, um, and there, there, there are great gifts and books that we have given away over the years or people who've purchased. So, um, and she's, you know, she's still driven and she ... every day she has a list of things that she wants us to, to do on the property or move or-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... recreate or do something else. And so she's, uh, still very involved and she's kind of our, uh, aesthetic Czarina.
Doug Shafer:
Right. Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
... for what happens on the property. And heaven forbid somebody who cuts a tree in the wrong spot.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
Uh, or cuts a tree that she shouldn't, that she didn't want cut. So, uh, it's yeah. So she's still very involved in, uh, she took on a very strong role and just continue to have a strong role on the property.
Doug Shafer:
Well, she's helped out with, you know, the Napa Valley Wine Auctions for years and things like that. And listen to you talk about her reminded me about in the early days, starting out, as you mentioned before, we did... There wasn't direct mail, um, visitation, wasn't a super big deal for wineries. It was there, but the majority of our business was through distributors, but also we, we would have events like the... I'm thinking about the, the wine auction and a couple of other things, each winery we would do things, but, uh, and also remember there weren't that many local restaurants and someone else was in here one time. We were talking about that. And it's like, the, a lot of the entertaining at wineries were done in the owner's homes, um, or at a space at the winery, but it didn't necessarily have a cater. A lot of times it was mom was making dinner. (laughs) I mean I can't remember we had some auction dinners and we didn't have a place at the winery. So it was up at my folks house and dad, or, you know, we'd be, it'd be 20, 25 people. And mom would have a couple of people come in and help her, but we're basically, you know, one of her old casserole recipes or something like that and drinking wine, but you know, your mom and my mom and other gals and, and spouses of just the whole families would, would do the entertaining. It wasn't be, it wouldn't be, you wouldn't have your hospitality department or something like that. It would just be kind of a homegrown. It was kind of cool. Diff- different -
Cyril Chappelle:
You know, if you, if you think about it, um, there initially, there... when we first moved to Napa Valley, there was not a white tablecloth restaurant in the Napa Valley at all.
Doug Shafer:
Hmm. It's true.
Cyril Chappelle:
I mean, there was Vern's Copper Chimney, and a few of those things, you know, but, um, but there were some remarkable cooks and the Mondavi family were all great cooks and all these people, and it was just natural. They would just entertain people in their homes. And then the Napa Valley Cooking School was created by, uh, the Trefethen. Uh, I think Janet Trefethen created that.
Doug Shafer:
That's right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And basically it was ladies and wives of vintners who would all get together and they would have Jacques Pepin, it would have the different chefs from around the country who would come and, and they were able to attract these amazing chefs to give them classes and, and, and kind of get them excited about cooking because they were the ones having to cook in their own homes. And I think that, uh, there's something warm and wonderful about that. And I think that it is something that, um... There's no way to go to a restaurant and have the same feeling that there would be, being in your home. And, you know, like you've had a chef for a wife, so this is a great thing. So you, you've kind of cu- cu- cut to the chase there to, uh, to have on mars- marvelous culinary experience by going to your, to your home. And I think that, that when somebody has that and when a distributor or a restaurateur or somebody comes in and you have dinner at your home and you try your lovely wines, it, it's a whole different experience. And I, and, and I'd say that it is interesting. One thing is you mentioned was our world's changed a lot over the years when we used to have to go out on the road and do everything, and then having distributors come and visit us and restaurants and retailers. And I would... The way I put it is that we would never be able to pay off our debt and be able to cover the big expenses by being in the three-tier system. At this point in time, our cost of production is too expensive.
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Cyril Chappelle:
Our cost of replanting and redoing. So without the direct consumer business, most of us would not be able to stay successful and be able to have this as an ongoing business. It is become a "necessary evil" or a necessary benefit. And one of the really cool things about the dread consumer business is we end up having better relationships with that end using customer
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
Which, which doesn't necessarily happen when it goes through a restaurant or a retailer, um, it's just a product on a shelf or a brand, but once you're having people onto your property, into your homes and, uh, and you build these long-term relationships and, you know, bringing up to real time and today in the COVID world, I'll bet you that 30 to 40% of the Napa Valley wineries would not be in existence today if they hadn't had the ability to sell direct to consumer during this period of time, because there's no way that they could have done the things to promote into the restaurants and the other places that they had normally been selling their wines. And so, uh, I think that, uh, it's an absolute godsend if you did it right. And, uh, and it's something that's, it's not going away. And we have to be very, very careful about protecting and making sure that we're supporting in the right ways to, to protect that business in, in the right ways.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And I think there's a balance and that's really the key is how do we have that balance?
Doug Shafer:
Well, it's... That's why we get up and go to work every day. Um-
Cyril Chappelle:
That's why we're on all these boards and all these things to try to help make all these things work. And, and, and the thing that you haven't talked about is that the two of you, two of us get to enjoy some time across the table or side by side, uh, on the Napa Valley vintners board, which I think is, is probably the most important structure in the Valley to support and protect our ability to continue to farm and to keep the magicalness of the Valley the way that it is. And I know we both put our hearts into it and, uh, and we have all different opinions on the group, which is the idea, but it's, it's been, uh, uh, something that I, that I, I'm honored to be on their board. And I believe that you are too. And, uh, we work hard to do this, and it's another place that we get to visit a little bit from time to time.
Doug Shafer:
I know. When I get to see you guys. It was on Zoom. (laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
(laughs) Well, this world, it is. So, so-
Doug Shafer:
And, um, thank you. No, it's, it's, uh, it's, it's good serving with you. It's, it's a good, great experience. And it's a great organization for sure. This is the Napa Valley vintners, but, uh, going back to entertaining and significant others and family, I want to, I, I've never heard the story about you and your bride Blakesley. How'd you guys meet? When did that happen?
Cyril Chappelle:
Oh, well-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... that happened, uh, that happened like 26 or seven years ago, actually. And, uh, when we first met and we met basically 100% on a blind date, uh, and we were... So the gentleman who became kind of my best friend who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and then we met when we were both interns and, and then started working for this, uh, oil insurance company back in Florida. Um, when I moved back home I got a call from his mother who I'd gotten to know, and it was a lovely Southern gentle woman. And she said, "Hey, are you dating anybody seriously?" And I said, "Well, not really." And of course I was probably about 26 or so at the time, 26 or seven or something like that. And she said, "Well, I've got this perfect person for you." And, uh, so then evidently she called Blakesley and said the same thing, and she must have said a similar and given a similar answer because, uh, before long, uh, we started telephone conversation back and forth. And, uh, I, uh, invited her to come down to our ranch down in Big Sur. And, uh, and our first meeting was, uh, down in Big Sur at that time. She was with, uh, Bank of America. And she, uh, had a meeting in Salinas at one time when I was down at the ranch. And so she came down and, uh, we met there and went out to dinner and dated for quite some time. And, uh, then for the next, uh, 10 or 11 years, uh, didn't hear a hide or hair about her or anything else.
Doug Shafer:
Hmm.
Cyril Chappelle:
So we, uh, we went our own directions and she emailed me, you know, 10 or 11 years later, whatever it was and said, "I'm going to Vail. And I see that you're one of the guest speakers at a wine-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... event that's there and I didn't want to just be in the audience without letting you know."
Doug Shafer:
Oh that's nice.
Cyril Chappelle:
And I said, "Well..." So that's how we rekindled. And since then we've been together o- ever since.
Doug Shafer:
All right.
Cyril Chappelle:
Um, so that's, that's how we got to know each other. And so, so those blind dates can be dangerous.
Doug Shafer:
(laughs) She's, she's a lovely woman and she's involved a lot with you and your business, but also locally. I mean, what, I think she's on the Clinic Olé board, what else? She's, she's doing everything. I see her name all over the place.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah, no, she's, uh, uh, she's has a very, very smart marketing mind and she really understands how to, uh, to make things work in a positive way for the community. And I think that, that she's really dedicated to, uh, to Clinic Olé for sure, which is where your dad dedicated a high percentage of his life to helping to support the needs of the, uh, migrant worker originally. And making sure that we had ability to take care of our vineyard workers at a high level and with, with really high quality medical care and, and your dad, uh, dedicated a high percentage of his life. And if it hadn't been for you taking over the winery and really managing the winery stuff, I doubt your dad could have continued to spend so much time and effort to help with, uh, that underserved part of the community that, that, that he really made it his life. And so, so I think Blakesley has taken it on with the same gusto, uh, and, uh, and structure your father did. So I - and she's also on the St. Helena Hospital board also. Um, and so, uh, at a time like this, with the COVID being what it is and all the other issues that are happening medically, um, it's, uh, it's lovely to get some insight from her as to what's really happening-
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
(laughs) ... as to what that is.
Doug Shafer:
No-
Cyril Chappelle:
So yes.
Doug Shafer:
She's, uh, she's awesome. She's a ball of fire, so glad she's doing it. Um, and then something I've, I remember, but I'd totally forgotten about in 2011 you guys bought, uh, another winery. Sono- Sonoma-Loeb. Tell me about... What's that story. 'Cause I, I never heard the, the, the background on that one.
Cyril Chappelle:
Well, it's kind of interesting, um, th- that in 1990, uh, gentlemen Ambassador, John Loeb, uh, showed up at the winery and he came to talk to Phillip, uh, and we had just hired Phillip in that same year basically to become the winemaker full time after Cathy Corison left. And John Loeb had asked Phillip, if he'd be willing to make some wines, John Loeb really liked our wines. And said, you know, "If you make these good wines for Chappellet, you can make a good wine for me. I've got some vineyard up in Sonoma, would you be willing to make some wine?" So we custom made wine for Ambassador Loeb for, I dunno, 12, uh, 12, 14 years, something like-
Doug Shafer:
Oh, okay.
Cyril Chappelle:
... that, that we were custom, custom making all the wine for him. And he got to a point where, uh, one day he called Philip and said, "Hey, would you want to buy a Sonoma-Loeb from me-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
And, uh, uh, and would you like to have the ability to market and sell and, and this wine, because it, it's, it's really good." Dah, dah, dah and Philip goes, "I know it's good, I'm, I'm negotiating all the grapes. I've done all this stuff. I've been managing, managing the production side of it for years. Uh, so I know how good the wines are." And Phillip said, "You know, I'm just in the process right now of building a new winery with my brother and myself. And, uh, the last thing we need to do is get a bunch more debt and, uh- ... uh, build s- some more structure there." So he basically, s- uh, basically passed, but he also said, let me see if, uh, Cyril would be willing to, uh, take, take it under the, under the Chappellet umbrella and be willing to deal with it. And so we talked about it and, uh, we knew where all the wine was being sold. We knew how the wine was being sold. We knew the quality of it, and we thought, "Oh, that'd be... This'll be good adjunct to us." And so we basically, um, made a licensing agreement because he wanted to keep the name because it was his own name.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And he basically, we made the license agreements. So we owned all the product and we made all the product and sold all the product, uh, throughout the country. And we've continue doing that, um, and, and are s- doing it to this day, um, and it's been, it's been interesting. Um, it's been challenging from the standpoint that, uh, that it's not Chappellet and my sales guys are going out and selling them wine. That's, doesn't have a Chappellet name on it. And even though we tell the story and all the rest, uh, it's, it's harder to sell than it is to sell the Chappellet wines-
Doug Shafer:
Sure.
Cyril Chappelle:
... and we've learned that. So it's, it's been interesting. Uh, it, I don't see it as a great big growth potential thing. And, uh, but we've, we've continued to, to work it and work it well, and it's been, it's been successful for us. Uh, and, uh, I think if we were to do something like that again, we wouldn't do it without owning the assets and owning the-
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
... uh, certainly owning the, uh, the, the name, but also probably wouldn't do it as a virtual winery, probably would do it with bricks and mortar if we were looking at that. And my belief is honestly, Doug, that there's gonna be some terrific opportunities the next two or three years. And there were some coming about right now, uh, for any of us who are established brands who would want to grow and want to, want to build and be able to take on other established brands, uh, to do that. And with the structure that we already have within our businesses and with the accounting programs and with the marketing and the sales teams and all the rest, um, we probably are in a pretty good position to be able to take advantage of those things. So I think there are arguably opportunities whether we choose to get involved with those and getting involved with other things or not, um, those opportunities are going to come about. So, um, you know, we're watching and we'll see what happens, uh-
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
... I-I-I know I have no plans on anything right now, but I just see properties coming av- available. And, um, and people are finding out that it's not... As a hobby business, it's challenging. And the one difference is you and I don't take this on as a hobby. It's what we do e- every day, all day long.
Doug Shafer:
Oh, it's, uh, it's the, it's the full monty without a doubt. Um, and so these days you're you're chairman, but you know, when my dad became chairman, like you said, he spent most of his time working for philanthropic, um, causes, which was great. And, uh, which was great for him and us. And it also freed me up to run the business. So it was a, it was a good move, but I don't think you as a chairman is the same way. What's your, I think you're pretty much, you're still running the thing every day, right? Day-to-day duty.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah. I know. Our chairman position was a position that was held by my father and, uh, and then my father, uh, bequeathed it to me by, uh, but also with the board's approval and the board, mostly family members. We've got Jack Daniels, who's on the outside, a friend of yours-
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
... about, uh, you've known him forever, uh, who, uh, worked for us years and years ago and had built a very successful company, uh, here in the Valley. And, uh, so he is on our board as an outside board member. I'll probably put another two board members on in the next year or so, um, from the outside. Uh, and, um, what I'm trying to do is, is stay at 30,000 feet more. Uh, I now have a managing director who is just a remarkable guy doing a phenomenal job. Uh, David Frankie, uh, who's now working for us also. And he's alleviated me to have a little bit of more flexibility, but I still hold the position of chairman of the board and president of the company. Uh, my brother, Dominic is vice president of the company. My sister is executive secretary and, uh, Chrissa. And so the three of us work for the company all the time.
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Cyril Chappelle:
And our, our agreement is that there'll be somebody on the Chappellet property at all times. So that there's one of the family members who is there, um, to answer questions or deal with issues or whatever. So right now, Dominic is there, um, I'm actually talking to you from Sun Valley, Idaho. Um, and we're, uh, where we have been, uh, during the last, uh, since Thanksgiving now. And, um, and it's, uh, a little bit safer with COVID being what it is in the Valley. And, uh, and I think that I can run the company pretty successfully from right here. I was on a Zoom call all morning, uh, this morning with my team, which I do every Monday morning, just to s- see where everybody is.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
Um, but, but I... No I oversee all of it and, and run all of it. And I don't... I would not say that I'm doing every bit of the work because I've got lots of people who are way better than I am at doing all the day-to-day stuff. And so, you know, the vineyard stuff is all overseen by Dave. And, um, my job is to support him and make sure that he has the assets and the structure and the financial ability to do what he needs to do with a winery run by Philip, if he needs new, new, or more barrels or more tanks or more equipment. Um, that's up to me to figure out how to make that happen on that side. But he is making those choices and, uh, same thing with all of our management teams. So, so, um, I've got to be the biggest cheerleader and the, the biggest a- advocate for driving the company.
Doug Shafer:
Right. Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
That's kind of what I see myself as, as, at this point in time.
Doug Shafer:
Does it, does it drive you crazy? These winemakers know, especially when you got a really good one, like you and I have, you know, and it's like, they keep making great wines, great wines, great wines. And, you know, they come in and say, "Well, it's time to buy this, or it's time to buy that." And it's like, in the old days, you'd kind of have a conversation kind of like, do we really need to spend that much money for that? I mean is it really gonna make the difference where now it's like, "Okay, go ahead and buy it." (laughs) Do you find yourself in the same position? And it's like, what are you going to do?
Cyril Chappelle:
Well, I'll, I'll tell you a funny little story that, that happened a few years ago. Um, we had just done some major revamping. We built a whole new barrel building, uh, there, and, and all of us have done this over the years right? You build... You do some major upgrade of some type. And, uh, and we had just done a bunch of stuff, bought a bunch of new equipment and everything else.
Cyril Chappelle:
And, um, Phillip and I were giving a tour to a investment banker guy, um, who is a big, um, a big fund manager, but loves our wines. And we were giving him a tour. And Phillip says to him, "This is so terrific. I have all the newest gadgets. I have all the newest equipment. It is, you know, we've just revamped everything-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
And Chappellet is, has been so good to me." And I said, "It's so great. I'm not going to need anything else. Um, I've just, I've got this wired-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
So for years, I'm not gonna need anything else." And I reminded him this morning when we had a budget meeting that I said, you know, "Phillip..." he goes, "No, that I've, I'll never make that mistake again because, uh, things are wearing out." And the, the nice thing about what Phillip has done for us is, is he did put together a five-year budget. And he said, you know, "This piece of equipment is optical sorted. It's really, really cool. And the state-of-the-art right now, it's going to wear out over the next four to five years." So in four years, I need to, I need to get another one of those.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And in, in three years, we need to get another one of these, and, and I'm going to need a couple more small blending tanks, uh, and so, and so these things continue on and, and he was laughing about it. He goes, "I, I will never tell you that I'm done because..."
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
You know, and then, then we look at the vineyard development.
Doug Shafer:
Oh.
Cyril Chappelle:
Look at the expense for the-
Doug Shafer:
Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I got that.
Cyril Chappelle:
... vineyard development is now. And so it, so I'm, you know, a- a- and then the redevelopment. So we replant five acres or so of vineyard every single year out of the 140 acres. And then this next two years, we're going to be trying to put in another 30 or 35 acres of, of new vineyard and, and that's going to be predicated upon water really. I mean, frankly, um, the, with the issue of having such, so little water this last year and coming forward, that if we don't get substantial water, we'll have to keep putting that off. Um, as far as the replanting, we'll develop it and put, pull it together. But, but-
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
... seeing these budgets on a three and five-year period of time, uh, is gives me the reality is that, uh, you and I still have to do our day jobs to keep this thing going so that we can keep funding, uh, all these projects that need to move on in order, so that the next generations have, have even a better business.
Doug Shafer:
Right. Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And I, and I think that, that's part of our dedication now is to, uh, you know, make sure that we have a structure that this business is really solid from every single level, from the brand l- level, from the financial level and from the environmental level, so that these businesses can be taken over by, uh, our nieces and nephews or your children in that case.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
... um, to if, if they're interested and, and that they have the de- dedication to do it.
Doug Shafer:
Exactly.
Cyril Chappelle:
You know, so.
Doug Shafer:
And, uh, and speaking of generations in, in ‘16, it was tough. We lost your dad. That was a tough time for you. I know that, um, I was thinking about it the other day. What do you think, what do you think his legacy is? Cause he was a quiet man, but he was so successful, but his legacy for just not just Chappellet, but for the Napa Valley, any, any ideas on that one?
Cyril Chappelle:
I don't know. He was, I think your point is right. He w- he is such a quiet and, uh, and soft-spoken, uh, person that never wanted to be in the limelight and never wanted to do, but he wanted to quietly help where he could. You know, I would think that his development of Pritchard Hill and what Pritchard Hill is, uh, will be part of the legacy that he, that he created. And, uh, you know, and, and my job is to protect that and to carry on with that in, in the right way. And I think that, um, you know, my job also is to find the next, uh, family members or staff and employees who are going to help to, to keep that, uh, going and to keep that in the right direction. Because, um, you know, we, we're blessed with having this remarkable piece of property. And as I said earlier, we're just really caretakers, uh, of, of this. So, so I'd say that h- him, my father building the foundation and the structure for it, you know, it's also, as both of us have the same burden, it's our last names.
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
It doesn't, it doesn't go away and is basically, um, and I, I, I'm, use this term all the time. It was, it was dad's dream. It's my reality. Um, and I think that, that to me is, is, is very real, but the way I see this is that he's the one who had all the risk. And I'm sorry to say, Doug, your dad and you guys have had all the risk. That's not the next generation. There will be other risks that will come about. But the fact of the matter is I don't think it's justifiable fear or, or right for any of them to capitalize on the risk and the toil and the, and the stress and the challenges that their forefathers have, have put in. So it's our job to take care of it and manage it and to drive it in the right way, uh, that protects it for the long-term. Um, and, uh, and it's not our job to capitalize on it and take the funds out of the thing, because, you know, you could, and, and I think the more of the American way is once it becomes really valuable, it gets sold. And, uh, and I don't see it that way at all. I see it as, as a much longer term in a much more of a European model of, um, how do we keep this for generations and make this work for generations, even if it has to skip a generation or two.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
So I, I, my hope is that, that really becomes my dad's legacy is that we've lived out his dream for him, which was to take on a family business, not a family empire, not a family castle or, or, or whatever. This is really about, uh, a wonderful, terrific industry and business that we've dedicated ourselves to. So I-I would say that that was probably my dad's legacy, if that could be put into it. And I don't know how you put that into words but.
Doug Shafer:
No, I think you-
Cyril Chappelle:
So..
Doug Shafer:
... you did a great job. He was a super guy.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah.
Doug Shafer:
So talk, talk to me about what you guys are making. What are you guys making varietal wise these days? You started out with Cab, Chard, and Chenin Blanc I think-
Cyril Chappelle:
So I think that-
Doug Shafer:
... is it still around you got more, what do you got?
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah, there were a few other things, weird things that happened over the years. We actually made some Sangiovese for a while. We actually made a Johannisberg Riesling. Johannisberg Riesling was actually grown on the property here for, at one period of time. And then, um, and then we have Sangiovese trying to follow the trends and the Sangiovese like it was a hot thing to do for a while. Um, we I'd say our, our tone is very different. Uh, I say that, that our tone is really doing what grows best on Pritchard Hill on our property and, and making that remarkable and then go find the clients for it. We really can never get ahead of the trend well enough to, to design a wine that is f- for a group of people we have to do the designer wines and build our wines for what we can do the best as possible, and then find the right clientele for it. So, so Cabernet is number one, no question about it-
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
... on Pritchard Hill, but we have all five Bordeaux varietals that we have planted there. And then the other, the only white grape that we have on Pritchard Hill is we have a small three and a half acres of Chenin Blanc that we still make.
Doug Shafer:
That's great. I love it. Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
It's just lovely. It's just, it's just a beautiful wine. And we kind of do it and it says Molly on it. So it says my mom's name on it.
Doug Shafer:
Oh good, good.
Cyril Chappelle:
You have to look on the back label to even see that it says Chenin Blanc.
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
It comes in kind of a tall, long dead-leaf green, uh, Riesling bottle, uh, and a beautiful package. Uh, and it's just this gorgeous wine. That's, that's just terrific. And so, so from Pritchard Hill, it's all about Cabernet, really emphasize the Chenin Blanc, and that's what we dedicate ourselves, but we have done something we call our grower collection and the grower collection, our wines that we're getting from Sonoma, and this really started from the Sonoma-Loeb project. And this is we're doing, a Pinot noir and Chardonnay and a Viognier. Um, and they are very site specific and they're from particular vineyards, uh, that are, uh, so we get some grapes from Colossae, which is a vineyard that Renteria runs and oversees.
Doug Shafer:
Okay.
Cyril Chappelle:
And it's just unbelievable. It's in a Petaluma Gap. So for pinot noir and Chardonnay, it's just a staggering wine. And it really comes out from a dedication of, to our winemaking team. If they find something, if Philip finds something that's so terrific that he says, "Hey, I can do something really exciting with this, and we'll make a small amount of for club," or for the... 'Cause we have to have enough to feed the DTC market of our, of our own stuff. So in the national market, the wines that are out there are some Chardonnay that does come from Sonoma, and it comes from our grower collection. And then ours, our Mountain Cuvee, which is our entry-level wine, our Signature Cabernet and our Pritchard Hill. And those are the wines that go to the national market, the, the Pinot Noirs and the, uh, and the other Chardonnays and the Viognier are wines that are club oriented. And then we do several different blends of Cabernet in different, um, items that we do from, uh, from Pritchard Hill. And we have a new wine that we've put together, which is our Hideaway, and it kind of straddles a position between our Pritchard Hill Cabernet and our, um, and our Signature Cabernet. And that's, um, from the vineyards that is right next to Blakesley and my house.
Doug Shafer:
Okay.
Cyril Chappelle:
Um, and it's this 15 acre block of vineyard that is right between Colgan and, uh, and Continuum.
Doug Shafer:
Okay.
Cyril Chappelle:
And, and it's, um, mostly grapes that would have gone into our Pritchard Hill Cabernet. But, um, matter of fact, you are probably more a part of this then you'll know-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
... because when you've dedicated a high percentage of your life to helping with raise funds for the bake sale of the Napa Valley Vintners, which we call Premier Napa Valley.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
And, um, in doing that, one of the things that you asked to be done early on was to make unique blends or make unique wines that were not available in the national market. So we basically were doing that to support a Premier, and we were making these kind of fascinating Cabernets, and they were typically a hundred percent Cabernet and we'd make a barrel or the 10 cases or five cases that we had to make for it. And then the clients, several years later, we'd come back and say, "Hey, have you tried that wine recently? That wine is staggering."
Doug Shafer:
Huh.
Cyril Chappelle:
That's really beautiful. And through that, I went back to Phillip and said, "Hey, Phillip is really what nice making all this wine for Doug and his little fundraiser, charity thing-
Doug Shafer:
(laughs)
Cyril Chappelle:
And this is, and all this stuff that we're doing there. And it's nice to give all this stuff away, but could we do any of it commercially?" And he goes, "Well, of course, it's from the vineyard right next to your house. We could, you know, we could just take a little-
Doug Shafer:
Oh it's great. Oh-
Cyril Chappelle:
... more of that and make a wine out it." So that's how-
Doug Shafer:
Good success story. I love it.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yeah that's how those things happen, you know? And so, so many long and short of it, the, the Hideaway is, is a staggering, beautiful wine. And, um, and we call that our, um, our, our mountain estates program and, um, little different label. Um, but it still has the feel of Chappellet and all the rest, but slightly different label. And, uh, so I-I, I would never say never, we're always looking for interesting, exciting things are, and I, I would say that whatever we can do to, to test and excite the winemaking team and challenge Dave to grow better grapes, that's kind of our goal.
Doug Shafer:
Right.
Cyril Chappelle:
That's kind of our, our job. And if we do that well, then we have to go out and find the market for it. Right?
Doug Shafer:
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Cyril Chappelle:
And find the right people-
Doug Shafer:
Yeah.
Cyril Chappelle:
... who want to buy that wine. And so, um, I-I think that's, those are the big things that are happening for us going forward. And I don't see that changing very much, uh, in the near future. Um, I see that just continuing on as, uh, as, as we go forward. And so that's the excitement on the, on the plan and, uh, what I should do is get you a little stash of all these wines and I'll call Erica to see how we could drop off some of those wines. So you can see what we're talking about. And so you can actually try them.
Doug Shafer:
Well that would be great. Thank you. But don't send it all to me so we can save some stuff to have together at some point, whether it's sooner or later, if it's later, we'll be side by side, but sooner we can, we can go out to a park bench somewhere. (laughs) I love it.
Cyril Chappelle:
(laughs)
Doug Shafer:
Where can people find your wine? What's your... Is your website, is what, that's the place to go?
Cyril Chappelle:
So if you're around the country, uh, you can find a fine, Fine Wine retailers around the country. No question about that. And, and we are distributed throughout the whole country. Um, and the best way is to go to our website, uh, and you can get virtually all of our wines through our website, uh, and that's chappallet.com www.chappellet.com. Uh, and, uh, you can get to our website and find the wines. And so any of the wines that we talked about today and, uh, um, are available there and, uh, and you can always call me, my... I'm very accessible, uh, and I'll, I'll help with that too. So, uh, you know, we're a family business and we're planning on doing this for a long time. So, uh, buy directly from us. And if you're, if we can find it for you closer to you, uh, we can, we'll help happy... Happy to help you do that too. So, cool.
Doug Shafer:
All right, man, Cyril, thanks so much for taking the time. It was great to catch up with you and hear some of these, uh, stories that I have not heard yet. So appreciate the time
Cyril Chappelle:
Doug, my, my absolute pleasure. And I hope that whoever listens to these podcast, doesn't get too bored with a bunch of old guys talking to them as they're driving in and out of their commutes or anything else. But, uh, it was fun doing it with you in, in any time that we can do this. You're a, a great commentator and it really works.
Doug Shafer:
All right, man, take care and we'll see you, we'll see you-
Cyril Chappelle:
Okay bye.
Doug Shafer:
We'll see us somewhere, somewhere-
Cyril Chappelle:
Okay.
Doug Shafer:
See you.
Cyril Chappelle:
Yep. Bye.
Doug Shafer:
Bye-bye.