In April, Chanel-owned St. Supéry acquired Rudd Estate in Oakville, Napa Valley. Leslie and Susan Rudd had founded the estate in 1996, spending three decades developing its vineyards and wines. Under the new ownership, St. Supéry said it would continue producing Rudd wines and work with the estate’s team.
The transaction extends a wine business that began in Bordeaux more than thirty years ago. It also offers a view of the interests surrounding Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, the brothers behind privately owned Chanel, whose public profiles remain modest beside the visibility of their fashion house.
Chanel bought Château Rauzan-Ségla in Margaux in 1994, followed by Château Canon in Saint-Émilion in 1996. The properties came with established pedigrees: Rauzan-Ségla was classified a Second Growth in 1855, while Canon held Premier Grand Cru Classé status in Saint-Émilion. Acquisition was followed by years of work renovating cellars and buildings and restructuring the vineyards.
At Canon, the investment addressed substantial problems. A long programme of replanting began, the winery was renewed and neighbouring plots were acquired. John Kolasa, who had previously worked at Château Latour and then Rauzan-Ségla, was brought in to oversee the estate’s recovery. The intervention involved the foundations of winemaking: the vines, the land and the facilities used to turn each harvest into wine.
The expansion into California came in 2015, when Chanel purchased St. Supéry from the Skalli family. Its vineyards added a Napa operation known for sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon to the Bordeaux properties. The portfolio also encompasses Château Berliquet in Saint-Émilion and Domaine de l’Ile on Porquerolles, off the Mediterranean coast.
Rudd’s arrival adds an Oakville estate to St. Supéry’s holdings. The announcement explicitly committed to continuing its wines, a meaningful detail for customers buying a particular estate’s output. Shared ownership can bring investment and distribution; the vineyard still has to retain a reason for someone to seek out its name.
In racing, the family connection is older. The Wertheimer stable and breeding operation celebrated its centenary in 2011. Its history spans Pierre Wertheimer, his son Jacques and grandsons Alain and Gérard. Among its successes were Lavandin’s 1956 Epsom Derby and Ivanjica’s 1976 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Goldikova became its most celebrated modern champion. Bred and owned by the brothers, she won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2008 and 2009 at Santa Anita, then completed a third consecutive victory at Churchill Downs in 2010. Freddy Head trained her; Olivier Peslier rode her throughout her career. Fourteen of her seventeen wins came at Grade or Group 1 level.
Her pedigree carried five generations of Wertheimer breeding. That means the family’s involvement extended through successive generations of her ancestry: choosing matings, raising horses and retaining bloodlines long before Goldikova reached a racecourse. Her record belongs as much to the history of the breeding operation as to its racing stable.
These interests deserve attention on their own terms. At Canon, the story is a vineyard rebuilt over successive vintages. In Goldikova’s case, it is a breeding programme measured across generations. At Rudd, the next chapter will be judged through the wines produced under its new owner. The Wertheimer name connects them; their individual records explain why they matter.
