Wine Spectator has learned that Cliff Lede Vineyards has acquired the 7.5-acre vineyard adjacent to the winery’s Stags Leap District facility, increasing its estate vineyard holdings to more than 160 acres in Napa Valley. Since 2002, the Lede family had leased the vineyard and farmed it for its owners, the Andelin family.
“This was a generational opportunity,” said general manager and COO Jason Lede. “It’s contiguous to us, which doesn’t come up very often, and it was already producing some great wine. Now, fully controlling it will help us make better wine.”
Founded by Cliff Lede in 2002, the winery began with 60 acres in Stags Leap and has built a strong reputation for its Bordeaux-focused portfolio of wines, including premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Additional estate property includes 87 acres in Carneros and 20 in Calistoga. Lede’s total production is 20,000 cases annually.
The winery’s Stags Leap estate is divided by the Silverado Trail, with one portion along the eastern hillside and the other along the valley floor. The new vineyard borders Cliff Lede’s valley floor perimeter and is not far from the winery’s tasting room. It butts up against the winery’s Rhythm Vineyard, and its fruit been used to support several of the winery’s bottlings, including its Rhythm Cabernet Sauvignon, an increasingly popular bottling, which they introduced in the 2021 vintage.
“We love the quality from the neighboring blocks. There’s just a driveway separating the two [vineyards], and we’ll probably replant the vineyard soon,” said Lede. Given the current state of the grape market, he believes now is as good a time as any to replant. He also argues that modernizing the vineyard and maximizing its potential through clonal selection and row orientation should help boost the quality of the winery’s Rhythm bottling, as well as other labels.
Recently, the company sold its Howard Backen-designed boutique hotel, Poetry Inn, and its Anderson Valley properties—Fel Wines, founded in 2009, and the 52-acre Savoy Vineyard, acquired in 2011. They made the deals to concentrate their efforts on Napa Valley.
“Refocusing was a strategy put in place a few years ago. Our family is doubling down on Cabernet and Napa Valley,” said Lede. He added that with so much negativity around current economic conditions in the wine industry, he hopes this can be a positive message for consumers and vintners. “This shows that as a next-generation vintner, I’m fully invested to make sure we are set up for the best future.”
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