The Walt Disney family has sold its Napa winery to hockey and wine mogul Bill Foley

Silverado expands Foley’s Napa footprint to four wineries, which include Foley Johnson and high-end Cabernet Sauvignon brands Kuleto and Merus. Foley’s empire of over 30 winery holdings spans the West Coast from Santa Barbara to Washington state, including nine in Sonoma County. The company also owns estates in France, Argentina and six properties in New Zealand.

Company owner Bill Foley, a billionaire who also owns the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team, has been on a buying tear since 2007. This is Foley’s third California winery purchase in two years; heacquired Ferrari-Carano in 2020and圣让城堡，去年12月。

Silverado Vineyards坐落在纳帕（Napa）的Silverado Trail的山坡上，由Ron和Diane Miller和她的母亲Lillian Disney（Walt Disney的妻子）于1981年成立。黛安·米勒（Diane Miller）是沃尔特·迪斯尼（Walt Disney）的大女儿，罗恩·米勒（Ron Miller）是洛杉矶公羊队的前足球运动员，曾在沃尔特·迪斯尼公司（Walt Disney Co.）担任总裁兼首席执行官。磨坊主在过去十年中去世，此后，酿酒厂一直掌握在第三和第四代人的手中。

根据酿酒厂的网站，米勒斯（Millers）在1978年购买了Silverado庄园时，该物业已经成为开拓者，这是鹿角Leap地区的前四个地点之一，在1960年代在1960年代种植赤霞珠。当邻近的斯塔格（Stag）的飞跃酒窖击败法国比赛并在1976年的巴黎判决中获得第一名，该地区将很快获得著名的著名。在购买酿酒厂的两年前，米勒斯在米勒牧场（Miller Ranch）购买了他们的第一个纳帕谷葡萄园。

Yet as the Stags Leap District’s reputation grew, Silverado’s notoriety took a back seat to other estates, like Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Clos du Val — which have both undergone flashy renovations — and newcomers like Odette andRealm。Silverado的大多数生产都是通过杂货店和主要葡萄酒零售商出售的，每瓶大约每瓶约20美元，但酿酒厂确实生产出高端装瓶，包括单葡萄园赤霞珠，超过100美元。

This makes Silverado an ideal prospect for Foley Family Wines. The company has a history of acquiring estates that have lost some of their luster in a mission to restore them to glory. One example of this trend includes Foley’s acquisition of Monterey’s Chalone Vineyard. Chalone reached cult-like status in the 1970s — it was a known favorite of Julia Child’s — but changed hands many times in the past 20 years and hasstruggled to maintain its relevance。