Chappellet

By: Anthony Gismondi

Pritchard Hill, Napa

Places

The modern story of Chappellet began in 1967 when Donn and Molly Chappellet put their faith in the advice of legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff who said he could make even better wines if he could get more grapes from the hills of Napa.

So, despite a chorus of other naysayers, the couple moved the family to Pritchard Hill, building a winery intent on producing wines that would rival the great wines of France so admired by Donn Chappellet; Latour, Lafite and Mouton. Chappellet earned instant acclaim with its first offering, the 1969 vintage, a wine current winemaker Phillip Corallo-Titus says is considered one of the best wines produced in Napa Valley. Corallo-Titus fills in the rest of the details during a discussion of the 2018 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon with Anthony.

Written By: ag

Anthony Gismondi

Anthony Gismondi is a Canadian wine journalist and one of North America's most influential voices in wine. For over 30 years, he has been the wine columnist for The Vancouver Sun. The twice-weekly column is distributed across Canada through the Postmedia Network to millions of readers. In addition, Anthony hosts the BC Food & Wine Radio Show, broadcast in 25 markets across B.C. and available as a podcast on major platforms. He launched Gismondionwine.com in 1997, attracting one million monthly users from 114 countries. It continues to be a valuable resource full of tasting notes, intelligent wine stories and videos for the trade and consumers. Conversations with wine personalities are available on his YouTube Channel.