Full Transcript
Doug
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Doug Shafer with another episode of The Taste. Today, we've got a special guest, a long-time industry and personal friend. We've served many too many years together on the Napa Valley Vintners Board of Directors. She's CEO of St. Supery Winery in Rutherford. Welcome, Emma Swain.
Emma
Why, thank you Doug Shafer. It's nice to be here with you.
Doug
It's good to be here. And not at all in a board meeting, I must say. And I was thinking about you last night, and I'm trying to remember when we first met and I couldn't come up with something. Maybe you can, but I did have a revelation this morning.
I remember we used to run into each other at the San Francisco International terminal waiting for the same plane to somewhere in Europe. I think you'd be going to see your owners of St. Supery based in France. And I'd be heading off somewhere to sell wine in London or Munich or something like that. You remember those times? I think that's when we
Emma
I remember those times. I remember distinctly leaving Paris and running and having just gotten onto the flight thinking I'm the last person on the flight. And sure enough, there you and Annette come flying in behind me. So I wasn't the last person.
Doug
That was that was you know, we've all have our worst trip memories. That's in my top five. We were literally running through that airport and got hung up and had issues getting through customs. And by the time we got on the plane, I was soaked in sweat. Now, I always carry an extra T-shirt in my briefcase because it was the most uncomfortable trip.
But yeah, I do remember you were very relaxed and looking at us in time. We were just in a panic. Anyway, so let's go all the way back. I read that your parents came here from the UK. Is that right?
Emma
Yeah, my, my parents are both British and they met when my mother was a model and my dad was a coal miner and going to college for his electrical engineering degree. And they met. They met, they fell in love. My father graduated from college and they moved to the US where he went into the semiconductor industry in the Boston area. After they'd had my three brothers and then they moved to America and then they had me.
Doug
That's pretty wild. And, you know, they're both from Britain and they pick up and move to Boston. I mean, that's crazy. Pretty gutsy. Yeah?
Emma
Pretty gutsy. Lots of opportunity. You know, my mom was helping support my dad through that last bit of college modeling. And she used to do the news on BBC and it was just the grand adventure. There were more jobs and opportunities available in America, kind of like today and being able to immigrate to a land where, you know, there is so much potential, particularly in the technology industry, as an electrical engineer. I mean, my dad's a really smart guy and he did very well in his business and we moved around a lot from there. We ended up moving back to the UK for a little while when I was small and then back to the US. But and then all around the U.S.
Doug
So born in but born Massachusetts, Boston, and then you moved back to the UK and then back to the US and I mean how often did you guys move while you were in school and grade school, in high school?
Emma
I did count at one point that I had gone to more schools than grades by the time I graduated from high school. So I got to meet a lot of different people and became a little bit more adaptable. But maybe that's where I became a change junkie. I mean, I always like change.
I like moving. And so it's funny to then be in an industry where now everything you have to be there for 20 years to see the fruits of your labor.
Doug
Right, but God, you know, I'm thinking about, you know, I moved one time junior in high school, Chicago to Napa, you know, and that was it wasn't traumatic, but it was big. But I'm thinking, you know, every year or two, you're switching schools, you know, as you're growing up there, had it had to be rough. Was it rough or do you just went with it?
Emma
Yeah. There were there were a couple that were particularly challenging. And then I went to three different fifth grades and that was, you know, that's that's a challenging, awkward time as a kid.
And then also I also moved in the middle of my junior year in high school when we moved from Florida to California. And that was that was a challenge.
Doug
So in high school you're bouncing around. What did you get into? Anything. Activity, sports, extracurricular.
Emma
I ran I played tennis from sort of fourth grade through through my move in junior high. So I, I played tennis. I played varsity tennis and surf club and and volleyball through high school. So.
Doug
But you said, I think, I know you a little bit, you've always been kind of a numbers science person. Was that kind of your big interest.
Emma
That was my big interest. I, I had, I have surgery in fifth grade and I just thought the doctors were so amazing, the anesthesiologist who took care of me and I thought, I want to be a doctor. And I was just fascinated by the science. And so I got involved and started being a candy striper at the local hospital and, you know, running around reading Discover magazine, reading all the science and tech things that I could get. And I started taking college level math classes at night just to keep myself busy.
Doug
Listen, boy, you you haven't changed a bit, have you? I wonder where it's came from. Okay, So. So end up. So where was college? Where did you end up going?
Emma
So I ended up going to UC Davis, which was kind of a surprise. I, I thought maybe I would go to Santa Clara. My parents were living in Saratoga, so I applied at Santa Clara and University of Tampa and Davis. And when I you know, the numbers came out, University of Tampa offered me a volleyball scholarship and but it was quite expensive as a private university. And Santa Clara was very close to my parents’ house.
And and UC Davis was about $440 a quarter at that point in time. And my dad said, you know, where do you want to go? I said, I want to go to Tampa. I wanted to go back to Florida. And he said, Well, Emma here's how it goes. If you go to Tampa, I'm not giving you any money. If you go to UC Davis, I'll pay your rent. And if you go to Santa Clara and live at home, we'll cover everything. And I said, gee dad, I'm going to Davis.
Doug
Come on, didn't you? I live at home. Come on.
Emma
No.
Doug
Davis, I remember that it was the quarter system because I went there too, and I think. What was that? I think you were there after me. I'm sure you were. Yeah. Every quarter I'd have to take my check for like, $380 to the to the main office to pay the quarterly tuition. Can you believe that. How much that cost.
Emma
It was it was such a deal. Yeah. For a great education. Amazing.
Doug
So did you ever, well high school you weren't supposed to drink, but, you know, the whole wine thing. We'll just go past that. But how about, you know, was wine part of it? Was wine, part of the home scene with your family or was that something later for you?
Emma
Yeah, you know, my parents drank, you know, a little bit in Florida, but then when they moved to California, their friends really got them into wine. And so when I was going to Davis and I would go home, my dad was drinking, you know, Chateau Montelena from the seventies, Jordan from the seventies and and really delicious wines. And I'm like, wow, this stuff's great. And so those are some of the wines that I, you know, remember first trying and loving.
Doug
Nice, nice, good. So you've got that background. So you're at Davis any, anybody you remembered there at the time you were there who were still in the you know, in the wine business, you still deal with them.
Emma
Yeah well you know, I met my husband at Davis, but he's not in the wine business. But I did have I did have a few friends who I met, Oded Shakked with Longboard Vineyards over in Sonoma. He started the the wine program at J.
Doug
Right.
Emma
He was there making sparkling wine for a long time. And Eric Olson, he is now over at Bontera. And we all used to pal around and I remember Eric Olson making this white Riesling that he had in the refrigerator for a school project. And we were very unimpressed. And then some years later, I'm flipping through Wine and Spirits Magazine and he is being written up for how great his white Riesling is. And I thought, Wow, we've all come a long way.
Doug
Yeah, yeah. I think about some of my early wines. I don't think about them often, wouldn't go there. Now anyway. All right, so you're Davis. So you get out of Davis degree and what was your degree in?
Emma
So I did Ag and Managerial Economics and then I was doing a minor in Biology because I just I loved all the, the science. It was so fun. I loved biochemistry and microbiology. It was just it's great.
Doug
Really, you like that stuff?
Emma
I did. I did. I told you I was a nerd.
Doug
Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing you and I get along so well. I just don't. You know, it wasn't biochem. No, this was nonstarter.
Emma
It’s one of my favorite classes.
Doug
Oh man. Okay. All right. You can have that one. All right, so you're getting out of Davis. What's. What's the play? What? Where do you go, what's your first job?
Emma
So the play was I didn't want to be poor any more. Being poor was kind of a bummer. And I was working multiple jobs while I was in college. I was selling kitchen cabinetry, I was working in a lab. I worked for Campbell's Soup, I sold women's clothing, I ran a retail store. And so I decided I was listening to all these recruiters on campus and they were telling me I could go and be a consultant. And I thought, Well, I'm going to be a consultant, man that rocks and and it pays really well.
Emma
So I get this job to work for Arthur Andersen at the time, and they sent us to six weeks of school at USF to become CPAs. And I had no idea what a CPA was. I was going to go be a consultant. And so they're telling me the first day that I've got to take this three day exam and, you know, all of these things that I have to do to become a CPA, I'm like, Wait, what did I sign up for?
Doug
Wow. That sounds pretty intense. Okay, so how you do?
Emma
Yeah, I knew nothing. Yeah, but I did when I got my CPA. I still have my CPA license, but, you know, it was kind of funny because I really had no clue what I was doing. I just didn't want to be poor anymore.
Doug
So with that. So we're -- well, good. So with that, working with Andersen, are you are you working with like one or two companies are like lots of different companies, different areas, different venues.
Emma
So I worked on the tax side and, and then they started a new office that was a test office for the United States called the Enterprise Group. And we worked with small emerging family businesses and technology businesses. And companies getting ready to go public. And so that was kind of the best thing about being in public accounting is I worked with a lot of different industries, a lot of different technologies, different people, and there were always new clients and things to learn. So that was fun. The diversity I really liked in the workplace and working with the smaller businesses. We did a lot of financial planning and prepping companies to go public.
Doug
Interesting to hear that because as we get into the rest of your story, you've been involved in some big deals through your career, so it's kind of like, you had a wonderful background for it. So what I'm starting to read here, I also now realize that these board meetings, when we start and we go over the financials and everybody's kind of like, yeah, looks good, looks good, looks good.
And Emma raises her hand and goes, What about line 32A here and we all go, huh? But she goes, That number doesn't add up to that number. And I don't understand. It's like, So now I know where that comes from.
Emma
Now you know where that comes from. I try not to be a pain like that and ask my questions before the meeting.
Doug
No, no, it's actually really good. We need. We. We need you there. Trust me. All right, So you're kicking around with these guys. So what happens Somehow you get into the wine business. How did that what's the story there?
Emma
So I. I was interviewing for a job and I'd been offered a job with Bain Capital.
Emma
And one of the partners I was working for came in and I hade referred somebody to him for one of his clients and that it worked out. And he said, Hey, Emma, do you know anybody who has go work in the wine business? I said, Well, me, I want to go work in the wine business. And he's like, Well, I can't take you because you're on this and this.
I said, Look, I have another job offer right now. If, if you have a wine industry job, that's me. Because I really wanted to move to Napa Valley and my husband and I had come up here when we were dating. We were still dating at that point in time. And I'm like, I want to move to Napa Valley and this is how I'm going to do it.
And he said, okay, well, I'll present you to my client. And so he did. And his client was Eleanor Coppola. And I went to go and work with the Coppola family at Niebaum-Coppola at the time, as well as the Staglin Family, because at that point in time, I was still working for Arthur Andersen. For the first year and a half, I was in the wine business, and so I worked as a consultant like 28 days a month for Niebaum-Coppola and one or two helping out the Staglins.
Doug
Wow. And so this was what time period where we're talking about early, early nineties, I think?
Emma
Early nineties.
Doug
Okay. Yeah. Okay. So all right, can you help me out here? Because I've been here a long time and I still don't really understand the whole history with Niebaum-Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola and his wife Eleanor, who you were working with and Inglenook, the connection, and who bought what and who sold what.
And you know, I've been at dinner with you and Skupny and a couple of other people hearing parts of the story, but can you walk me through the timeline because I'm sitting there last night looking at this and I still don't really understand, you know, Inglenook, which was here forever. And Coppola came in and bought what?
Emma
So the Coppola's in the, in the mid-seventies bought the back portion of the Inglenook property. It was 1560 acres with the historic mansion, spectacular property. And as Eleanor would say, we bought it for the price of a nice home in Beverly Hills at the time. And they bought it to be up here out of the fog of San Francisco.
And Sophia went to high school here. At St. Helena High School and they made it their home. And then, of course, they fell in love with wine. Andre Tchelistcheff helped make the first couple of vintages of wine there and Francis became really interested in reuniting the property with the front 73 acres where the historic chateau was.
There was a huge, ugly barrel building in front of that, and he really wanted to reunite the property and had not been successful. And at the time I was working for John Skupny and John was the general manager of the property and Scott MacLeod was the winemaker and Tony Soter was the consulting winemaker.
Doug
And I’m gonna interrupt. They were working for Niebaum-Coppola or for Inglenook.
Emma
Niebaum-Coppola. Inglenook was owned Inglenook was owned by Hueblin at the time. They owned the brand and the property.
Doug
Got it. And so Inglenook owned that. The front part, the 73 acres, right?
Emma
Yeah.
Doug
Okay.
Emma
And the chateau.
Doug
Got it. And Niebaum-Coppola, Francis’ property was next to it, but behind it. Got it. Okay.
Emma
Yes.
Doug
All right. Thanks. So keep going.
Emma
So there were rumors that Heublien was going to sell it. They'd sold some of the other properties and the brand Inglenook. And so we, Niebaum Coppola, approached them. John Skupny got a check from Francis and Eleanor wrote $1-million check and handed it to John and Ellie kissed the check and went over and and made an offer to them.
Doug
Wow.
Emma
And, you know, as it is a good faith, it wasn't $1,000,000 for the property, trust me. But but it got the conversation going and and started that conversation and then we negotiated for about oh gosh, it feels like it was like a year and a half. It went on forever, negotiating with them and ultimately purchasing the property and then starting the restoration and rejuvenation of that property and the construction almost immediately upon purchasing it.
So it was it was really exciting. It was a lot of hard work. And it was Kal Finch who worked for Francis on the movie side and John Skupny and myself working on those negotiations in addition to our attorneys.
Doug
So Francis got, put everything, you know, was able to purchase that front piece and the chateau and put it all back together. And then now what happened with the name? So it was no longer, did he keep Niebaum-Coppola going or because didn't it become didn't he turn it back into Inglenook, the whole thing? How'd that work?
Emma
So he he called it, it was still near Niebaum-Coppola, and the wine, the primary wine from the property was called Rubicon, and we purchased with that also the Gustav Neibaum label, which became Francis Coppola Presents and produced, you know, some additional wines from that property.
But part of the deal is we had a lot of side deals on this property to make everything work, you know, leasing parts of the vineyard, leasing parts of the barrel building. And Francis had this vision of just removing that barrel building that blocked the view of the chateau from Highway 29 and restoring it to its former glory.
He had this vision of reuniting the brand name Inglenook with the property. And we were, you know, over time he's been able to do that. Eventually the the lease on the barrel building went away and he was able to remove that building. And you can see the beautiful chateau from the highway today and most recently, in the last I guess few years, he was able to purchase the brand name Inglenook back.
Doug
Okay.
Emma
And reunite it with the property. So piece by piece, that winery, I believe, was originally bonded. Winery number nine, that number nine is still with Napa Wine Company. So maybe he'll get that bond number back one day, too. But he's been very diligent about following up on all those pieces. And over time, he has restored it. It's really quite remarkable. Every time I'm on the property, it's more and more beautiful than than it was before.
Doug
Oh it is gorgeous. And, you know, locally, you know, I've lived here a long time and other people have lived there longer. And that that you mention that pretty hideous barrel building that blocked the view of the chateau. And when he tore that down, I mean, this whole valley was just ecstatic.
And then you remember. I'm sure you do. He had the grand opening party, you know, to celebrate.
Emma
Oh yes.
Doug
We celebrate the removal of that warehouse. And he basically invited the entire Napa Valley. No charge.
Emma
Yep.
Doug
There were thousands of people there. And, you know, he had a bunch of Hollywood folks. I think Father Guido Sarducci was there and gave a little speech.
Emma
Yeah.
Doug
I'm dating myself. You young folks don't know who Father Guido Sarducci is, but you can look him up. But he but he was he was so great for the valley to do what he did and to continue that on, which is pretty cool. And I had one curious question I was since the whole movie connection, did you guys have any celebrity stories of people popping in famous actors and actresses or anything like that?
Emma
Okay, so this is a little embarrassing, but I never recognize anyone. So, you know, my husband would laugh at me quite regularly because I would have lunch with people who I who were in the movie business. And I would come home and I'd say, you know, I had a really nice lunch today with this Oliver Stone guy, and he's great.
And my husband's like, You have no idea who that is do you? I'm like, No, but he was nice and his girlfriend was really nice, too.
Doug
That's really funny.
Emma
You know, that was me all the time. And occasionally, like Robin Williams, you know, I you know, obviously I recognized him, but, you know, I was I was pretty hopeless. But I met a lot of nice people who were very down to earth and very creative and talented. The old movie editing studio was above the winery and so we'd have everybody going back and forth, editing and and one day they'd be rolling the barrels on the wooden floors to create the sound of thunder, because they needed that for The Secret Garden or something fun like that.
Doug
That's kind of cool. I love it. Well, what an experience. So you were there. I think you were only there till about 96, four or five years. Is that right? And then
Emma
Yeah, in May of 96.
Doug
What happened next? Where'd you go?
Emma
So I got recruited to go over and work with the Sebastiani family. And I thought, you know, here's this winery. It's it's been around for a long time and I've got this nice opportunity. I'm going to progress in my career. And so I took the job there and I had no idea what a creative and entrepreneurial bunch of people that I would work with at the time at a winery that's been around for 95 years.
And I learned so much and worked with so many great people. But at the time we were a little over 8 million cases. We were the third or fourth largest winery in the U.S. and so I started on some great projects. We did a big system implementation project with SAP. We were very focused on, you know, creating great wine and multiple, you know, good price points.
And as Don Sebastiani used to like to tell me that we were a consumer products company, not not a winery, which was sort of surprising to me during that era. But we were, you know, we had we had to be thoughtful about, you know, price points and shelving and and keeping you know, the product in the front line.
And we launched Nathanson Creek with a, you know, ad on during the Super Bowl and did a lot of fun and creative stuff from a quality perspective, building the wineries. We built a winery called the Nathanson Creek Winery in Woodbridge, Lodi area, and it was the first winery to have a multi-pond system for cleaning all of the wastewater and having it clean enough that we could put it back in the river and just did some great sustainable projects and innovative projects. And it was a lot of fun working with everyone there. And then we sold it, but we had a
Doug
But wait a minute. So before you sell it, you know, you said it in passing. I've got to come back to this 8 million cases. That's a big wine. That's a lot of grapes, a lot of wine. And so. And you took the job there. What what was your role? Were you accountant? CFO?
Emma
I, I yeah, I was controller. And then it quickly became and then became the, the CFO about a year later. And then, and then we sold the winery and I became the chief operating officer. I guess I was around 30 or something then.
Doug
Jesus, all right, so wait, they sold the whole thing? What did they sell? They sold to Constellation, right?
Emma
They sold to Constellation, all of the brands.
Doug
Okay.
Emma
Except for the Sebastiani brand name and all of the property outside of Sonoma County. So we sold the Nathanson Creek Winery, the Vendage Winery, the sales force. We had several 450, 480 salespeople and those divisions and everything else that was in Sonoma County stayed with the family. The historic winery, the we, I don't know, 600, 700 acres of vineyard and the Sebastiani brand.
Doug
And so you see and so you stay with the Sebastiani family with the smaller brands. Sebastiani, right?
Emma
Right. So Don Sebastiani and and his sons left to start Don continue with Don and Sons. Their venture and his sister Marianne Sebastiani Cuneo and Richard Cuneo, who was the president through Don's era. And Marianne became CEO and I became the COO and we went from 8 million cases to about 70,000. And we had a lot of bulk wine and a lot of grape contracts and vineyard in Sonoma for about 400,000 cases and 9/11 hit and there was a huge, huge harvest. So suddenly we had a lot of excess inventory and not a not a big brand to sell.
And we set a course that we were going to make the very best Sonoma County wines and we were going to be the primary family from Sonoma County making fantastic Sonoma County wines with 100 year history. And we did that. We made great wine, we sold off a lot of bulk wine and it used to be Richard Cuneo would come in my office every day and he'd say, So do you think maybe we should just start another brand? Like, nope, we're going to stay, we're going to stay focused.
And then it became, you know, maybe once a week and then it became once a month. And and then, you know, after I don't know, about a year and a half, two years, he came into my office. He said, you know, Emma I think you've turned this Chevy into a Cadillac.
Doug
There you go. Yeah, you know, this I love doing this podcast because I think I've known you for how many years, and I don't know all this stuff about you. This is so fun to find out. But we need to talk about brand and how important brand is, and you get it. I mean, you stayed focused, you didn't dilute it, you didn't go crazy and start coming up with new names. You stuck to your guns and just made it, like you said, made a Cadillac. Bingo branding, you know?
Emma
Yeah, Well, and I, I think I get that from when I very first started. I remember sitting next to Al Brounstein at my very first industry event and, you know, this geeky kid and it just like, wow, Al Brounstein, he's amazing. And he's telling me,
Doug
Hang on, Al Brounstein of Diamond Creek, like the first cult winery in Napa Valley. Wonderful man. Go ahead, keep going.
Emma
And he says to me, you know, Emma, you've got to you've got to be an estate. You've got to, you know, focus on controlling everything from the vineyard through the product and, you know, making the very best wine and, you know, that was resonated with me. I'm like, okay, so we're you know, we're in the wine business, not the consumer product industry anymore.
And back in the wine business, and we're making the very best wine we can. And we're being you know, it's Sebastiani. It wasn't all estate, but it was all Sonoma County, all the best quality wines we could make. And most, you know, much from our own vineyards, from the winemakers vineyard and from growers we'd worked with for very long time, like the Duttons and over on the Sonoma coast.
And I think that focus is very important for leading your team forward. Everybody knows what the goal is. We're going to make the very best of this wine and and doing that every day in, day out. You think, I have to make a decision here. Does it make the very best wine? Does it stick with our mission, then? Yes, keep going. And if it doesn't, then it's a distraction.
Doug
Bingo, bingo, bingo, bingo. I know this is about you, but I've got to jump in here. You mentioned you mentioned, like I always do. You mentioned Al Brounstein, and I haven't thought about him in years. And when you said his name, I flashed on the early days at Shafer, and I remembered I'd be, you know, in the cellar trying to, you know, get wine in the bottle without blowing up and things like that with Elias.
And I'd run into Dad. He says, I just had another meeting with Al. My father adored Al Brounstein, and I think Al Brounstein gave my dad the same advice he gave you, because from the very get go, it's all about brand. And stay focused. Stay focused. So just you just brought back a really sweet memory. So thank you, my friend.
Emma
No. You know, and and, you know, I feel the same way about your dad, too. He was another great inspiration to me.
Doug
Well, good. Apparently, you guys had conversations that I didn't know about. That's good to know. He. All right, so you're rocking it in Sonoma, and then somehow you end up back in Napa. What happened there?
Emma
Well, I we were moving along and 2008, it was kind of before the crash of everything. And Sam Sebastiani decided that he wanted to have his share of the money out of the the winery. And Sam, Don Sebastiani, and Marianne Sebastiani all owned a portion of Sebastiani Vineyards and had a buy sell agreement. And so Marianne said, Don let's buy Sam out. And Don said, No, I think I want to get out too. And it was super disappointing for for myself and Mark Sebastiani Cuneo, who I worked with, because we were really on a roll. We'd grown the winery from 70,000 cases to 330,000 cases. We had very high scoring wines that were being recognized and on the cover of some of the nice publications and we were kind of on fire.
And so but, you know, the, the message was we needed to sell. And so we very quietly did that and we were going through that process. And in the middle of that, the economy crashed and we had some offers for the winery. And, you know, Marc and I, Marianne, you know, we could we could we could buy the winery ourselves and still selling it to this other person.
You know, we could all, you know, put things together and make this happen. And and Marianne said, you know, I'd rather not have my brothers upset because we end up owning the winery and be able to have Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter all together. And and so she put aside that family heritage for family harmony and, you know, for the future that's the right decision to make. But at the time, it was very disappointed us who'd worked so hard to to rebuild the brand. But anyway, we sold it at December 31st, 2008, and we closed. And I had my third interview with St. Supery that day, and about six weeks later I was over here.
Doug
Wow. Wow. Look at the deals you've been involved with. Just amazing to me. Who helped me, who bought this the best, you know that one.
Emma
Bill Foley bought the the winery.
Doug
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right. So now you end up back in Napa at St. Supery What? And you're working for the Skalli family in France, right?
Emma
Yeah. So I had a little overlap of a couple months with Michaela [Rodeno], who was the first CEO here. And so we had a nice, planned transition for her retirement and started working for the Skallis’ about two weeks in the the winemaker resigned. Nothing to do with me, but he's a really nice guy and he had a great opportunity. And so, you know, you prioritize what you have going on and you know, the banking crisis is happening.
We have a lot of inventory, I’m walking around and, you know, looking at wine quality, learning about the vineyards and learning about what's in inventory and what's great and what's not so great, and end up interviewing a lot of fantastic winemakers and spending a lot of time with their VP of Viticulture and and learning about the vineyards at St. Supery.
And during that time we we determined we had moved to an estate model with the exception of one wine, the Muscat Canneli. And because we were still purchasing some some Muscat and we realized just what a great property we have and what a great cellar, but things that we needed to invest in as well and I think that that was quite a benefit to me actually having the old winemaker leave during that time, because I delve into the quality, the facility, the vineyards very quickly and in more detail than I probably would have for four or five months if if I didn't have to focus on that first.
And and I communicated a lot with the Skalli family who were all over in France and I wanted to make sure that they were engaged and knew what I was doing because, well, it's me. And so there's going to be change.
Doug
Right.
Emma
And and it's not going to be maybe so gentle and so, and so, you know, I would let them know we were doing this or that. And I'd also say, and by the way, we need to spend some money. And I started laying out what we needed to do to invest in the winery. And so I brought Michael Scholz back as our winemaker that June of 2009, and we immediately started investing in the cellar and and in the vineyards and started a lot of projects.
We did a new small cellar in 2010. We added, We've been replanting and rejuvenating the vineyards, adding a ton of technology and just revitalizing our wine quality and becoming, as Al Brounstein would be happy for us. 100% estate grown, produced and bottled and and very, very focused on on quality and continuous improvement and it was wonderful that the Skallis’ were very supportive of us.
I think kind of one of the funny things with the Skallis’ is, is there also in the pasta business. They were in the wine and pasta business since 1920 in the south of France and in 2012 we started talking about getting an optical sorter and they're like, oh, the optical sorter has been fantastic in the wheat business.
And so they were super supportive because they'd seen the benefit in the wheat business. And, and you, you kind of didn't expect to get that support like right off the bat with the new technology. But we did. And so that was the first year we were able to bring optical sorting on so that everything since then has been sorted down to the grape for all the red wines.
Doug
Real quickly, just because I've never heard that story, how the Skallis’ is end up in Napa Valley, investing.
Emma
So Robert Skalli was in the family wine business in the south of France and the pasta business, and he had met Robert Mondavi and it was in the early seventies and he was obviously a young man and he came to Napa Valley, fell in love with it, saw the future of it, and spent almost ten years looking for a property in Napa Valley.
And that's when he found the property that is our Dollarhide Ranch. And it was a little over, it is a little over 1535 acres. It has seven lakes, seven soil series, 13 variations, rolling hills, just a beautiful, high-elevation vineyard property. And he finally purchased that in 1982 and immediately started developing it. He brought over professors from Montpellier and he started developing a little Sauvignon Blanc out there, Cabernet Sauvignon.
And he would spend, you know, 90 days here and then 90 days back in France, back and forth. And he also simultaneously launched a brand called for Fortant de France, which was the first varietally labeled wines out of the south of France. He helped create Le Pays d’Oc appellation and and grew that brand very dramatically in the US kind of overnight to 600,000, 700,000 cases quite quickly.
And so he was he is an innovative entrepreneurial spirit and in 1985 he purchased the property that the winery is now located on, built the winery, redeveloped the vineyards, restored the old historic house, and while also, you know, managing quite substantial winemaking operations in the south of France.
Doug
Wow. Cool. And then, thanks for that, because I never knew how they ended up here. Interesting. And so they and then back in 2015, it seems like it was just a couple of years ago, but so it's been eight or nine years. They sold to Chanel. And so what what happened on that one?
Emma
Well, you know, I started to realize when people called me and asked me if I'd like to come work for them, that they usually just want me to turn their winery around and then sell it.
Doug
Yeah. And there's there seems to be a recurring theme here.
Emma
There is a recurring theme, so I, so they decided that they'd like to sell the winery in, I guess late 2014. And so, you know, when you're selling a winery is, you know, it's it's a very private process and nobody gets to know because you can't let the word get out.
And it's a huge amount of work. And so we went through the process and we actually worked with two investment banking firms this time and sort of just one and it was, you know, again, a lot of fun meeting a lot of different people, but sort of dividing your brain between driving the winery forward and improving quality and making great wine and making people happy and and selling the winery.
And it was very pleased that the ultimate purchasers of the winery was Chanel. We very much enjoyed meeting with them from the very beginning and their own focus on quality and consistency and following that supply chain all the way through to the wine is super important. You know, all the wineries that Chanel owns are estate grown, produced and bottled, and all of them are sustainably or organically farmed.
And so we have, you know, a very consistent vision of taking care of people, place, and producing the very best quality product that we can.
Doug
Nice, nice. No, I think it's been great. And, you know, it's great that obviously you stayed on. They kept you on because, you know, you run a pretty tight ship. So I'm sure they realized that. Smart.
Emma
Well, I think and I think it was important to them that that before purchasing a winery here that there is a team in place that was the team that they would want to work with. And and all of us, you know, stayed through that transition. So I think that's a testament to when we were doing the right thing and they appreciated that.
Doug
Now it seems like it's been pretty seamless. The transition, which is great. So, you know, Emma, I talked to a lot of vineyard folks and winemakers on this podcast. Obviously, we know what they bring to the final product, you're fairly unique. You're more of a business person, accountant person, strategy, branding, not so much grapes and wine, but what, what do you think a person like you with your skills brings to the final product, the final quality in the bottle?
Emma
I think, you know, one of the things that that I bring to any organization that I've run or been in is I have a distinct view of the big picture. And I also take kind of big leaps in how I think about things in driving change and how everything fits together and jumping several steps ahead to where we can improve.
And hopefully the way I do that enables the team to be their very best without having to worry about things outside of their area, but also being challenged to be their best by me bringing forth new ideas, new technology, and the ability to use that for them. So I hope that the team being able to focus in and be their best translates to a wine that's made by people who who care about their planet and their impact on it and how they can be their best.
And, you know, I'm always pushing for change and continuous improvement in quality and but also being super respectful of our resources. And I think I think that gives people to the chance, enhance what they're doing every day. And so hopefully every time you open a bottle of wine, it tastes a little bit better.
Doug
Well, yeah. And you're not saying that, but I'm going to say it. I think from knowing you and hearing your story and exposure early on to people like Tony Soter and John Skupny and then later on at St. Supery with Michael and having, you know, when he left and you had to jump in and you made a concerted effort to learn the vineyard side of the business, to learn the winemaking side of the business.
And really and I know you know that because our conversations at these board meetings through the years, you know, when I mentioned something regarding vineyard to production, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And I think the fact that you have such an appreciation well, not just appreciation, but knowledge of what it takes to produce good grapes and great wines just makes you that much better of a leader.
And then you throw in your strategy and your Al Brounstein focus on branding and, you know, you end up with a winner. So my my compliments. I think it's fantastic.
Emma
Aw, thanks.
Doug
Well done. Well done.
Emma
That's very sweet.
Doug
Well, you know, you know me. If it's not true, I don't say it. So there you go. But meanwhile, I do have to say, I mean, your career, these transactions that Coppola Inglenook things, Sebastiani, Constellation, St. Supery, and Chanel, I mean, I mean, does it seem like you're doing the deal every time you turn around because the deals are big! It's a big thing.
Emma
It is a big thing. And I think you don't realize unless you've done one, how much work it is to do and keep your business running at a top level and to do quietly and divide your your mental state. And, you know, diligence really is a bad word. It's so hard, you know, But but, you know, I I've enjoyed everyone I've worked with on those transactions. It's exhausting. It's a lot of work. And I'm I'm happy that that Chanel like St. Supery as we are and gives us the permission to be better every day. And I don't have to turn around and sell the winery again.
Doug
Good, good. Well, speaking of St. Supery, what's going on? What's happening today? What's new? What's coming up? Anything we need to know about?
Emma
Well, one exciting new thing is we purchased a new vineyard last August, so it's been a, you know, a few months and very exciting. We purchased right before harvest here in Rutherford, and it's 48 acres with 42 acres of vineyard. And so that's a nice addition to our Sauvignon Blanc program. And beautiful, delicious fruit from the vineyard this year.
It's exciting to taste the wines and look at where we're going to go with those. And we're also working with an organization called Fed by Blue, and Hope in the Water or is going to be part of our sustainable seafood programing this year. And and having our Sauvignon Blanc wines go to continue to support important organizations promoting and protecting our oceans and putting sustainable seafood on our plate.
Doug
Great. Good to hear. And for those who might not be familiar to give us a rundown on the wines St. Supery offers.
Emma
So here at St. Supery, we produce only wines that we grow, produce and bottle ourselves. In the beautiful Napa Valley. We grow primarily Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, but all of the red Bordeaux varietals and a little tiny bit of Muscat Caneli. And we do that in a sustainable fashion. We've been certified Napa Green in the vineyards since 2008 and then the winery since 2012. And we love the Napa Green program because we can continuously improve every three years and get recertified and, you know, hopefully make a pretty important impact on our environment and keep this place going forever.
Doug
Yeah, got to. Got to, got to. And where can people find your wines? Can you can they buy them online through the winery? Is there a good website?
Emma
Absolutely. It's stsupery.com. But also, you know, any of your favorite retail locations, you can find a number of our wines and your favorite restaurants. And if they don't have them, please do ask.
Doug
Yeah, and I just I know where your office is, so I have to stop by and grab some. Just last time I stopped by, there is a bunch of cases for me, so thank you for that. But that's a whole other story.
Emma, thank you so much for taking the time today. I know you are so busy, so I really appreciate it and great to hear your story. Thanks so much.
Emma
Well, thank you, Doug. That was fun to catch up.
Doug
All right. Take care. I'll see you in a meeting soon. Okay.
Emma
All right.
Doug
All right. Bye.
Emma
Bye bye.