VARIETAL COMPOSITION Cabernet Sauvignon
REGION California
COUNTRY United States
APPELLATION(S) Napa Valley
PROPRIETORS Rudd Family
FOUNDED 1996
WINEMAKER Natalie Bath
In 1996, food and wine entrepreneur, Leslie Rudd, purchased a 55-acre estate in Oakville, California to pursue his 30-year dream of owning a winery. He expanded the winery caves to a capacity of 20,000 square feet and used the 78,000 tons of stone and bedrock removed during construction to build the stone walls surrounding the property. These recent improvements allow complete temperature and humidity control over different sections of the caves, which gives flexibility in treating each variety uniquely and aids in barrel fermentation when appropriate.
The spectacular 2-acre winery garden was created by Leslie Rudd’s wife, Susan, with the help of noted Canadian landscape designer, Thomas Hobbs. The gardens are anchored by 150-year-old olive trees with gnarled trunks. A glass greenhouse sits at the north end of the garden filled with succulents and two organic vegetable plots that produce a wide variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables for the winery and PRESS Restaurant in St. Helena.
Sadly, Leslie Rudd passed away in May 2018 after a tough battle against cancer. His daughter Samantha now leads the winery.