Cyril Chappellet, CEO of Chappellet Winery in Napa Valley, CA
Briana Marie Photography
In 1967, Cyril Chappellet moved to Napa Valley as a child and witnessed his parents, Molly and Donn Chappellet, plant a vineyard and establish Chappellet family winery. He remembers assisting in the vineyard, along with his brothers and sisters, as his parents struggled to grow grape vines on the rocky, steep slopes of Pritchard Hill.
Today, Cyril is CEO of Chappellet, and the family wine brand has become one of the most well-respected in the U.S., with a long list of accolades for their high-quality Napa cabernets and other varietals.
But, recently, Cyril has become increasingly concerned about the state of the American wine industry, and specifically, small family-run wine businesses.
“As an industry, we’ve had consistent growth in the last 25 years in quality, volume, and price. But now, this is the first time we’ve seen a major shift in a downward direction,” he told me in a recent Zoom interview. “We’ve overshot the market, planted too many vineyards and are making more wine than can be sold.”
Experts suggest that there are multiple reasons as to why the wine market has shifted, including an increased focused on health and wellness after the pandemic, which started a gradual decline in alcoholic beverages in mid 2021, especially amongst young adults. By the end of 2024, that decline meant that U.S. wine sales had decreased by 9.1%, according to market expert, Gomberg-Frederickson.
Other reasons include more beverage options, such as THC-infused drinks, rising inflation – pushing wine prices higher, an expansion of anti-alcohol groups, and tariffs, which caused Canada to reject $1.1 billion of U.S. wine exports.
But Cyril Chappellet is not giving up, and he believes strongly that the American wine industry plays a vital role in the nation’s economy, agricultural landscape, and social fabric.
“Wine is an important part of our lives. Enjoyed in moderation, it helps to induce better and richer conversation. Wine is an agricultural product, and there are thousands of small wineries across the nation that continue to be successful,” he stated.
Indeed, Chappellet is one of those wineries that is still succeeding in the market, despite the challenging situation facing the alcoholic beverage industry. According to the 2025 BMO Wine Market Report, only 36% of U.S. wineries experienced sales growth in 2024, down from 41% the previous year, and the majority of that came from direct to consumer (DTC) sales.
This suggests that 64% of survey respondents either broke even or saw decreasing sales in 2024. Given there are more than 11,000 U.S. wineries, with the majority being small family wineries, this indicates that many wineries may be struggling. So what actions should they take to survive in the long-term?
I asked Cyril what practical steps wineries can take. He described Chappellet’s approach: prioritize customer engagement, maintain quality at fair prices, pursue careful vineyard planning, and establish solid succession and governance structures—all as essential strategies for long-term survival.
Chappellet Vineyards on Pritchard Hill in Napa Valley
Chappellet
Chappellet Believes in a Relentless Focus on Customer Engagement
While many wineries wait for wine tourists to visit their wine region, Chappellet and other savvy wine owners are going to where consumers are.
“Every week my brother and I, along with our spouses, are traveling across the country to do one or two wine dinners,” stated Cyril. “We believe in staying in touch with our customers, and meeting them on their home turf.”
For example, this Thanksgiving Cyril and his family are flying from California to Montana to host a dinner for loyal Chappellet customers who have been wine club members for years.
“Probably the highest value a family winery can offer is building relationships and telling stories. Wine is extremely personal, and people have many reasons why they choose to drink one wine brand over another,” Cyril explained. “Over the years we have become friends with many of our customers.”
Chappellet family and team members also work closely with distributor partners to meet with wine shop and restaurant owners. “The closer we can get to the end user the better, so with retail accounts we like to talk to the sommelier or store rep who actually talks to the consumer,” he said.
“We also say thank you frequently for purchasing our wines, and ask them what they like. That all makes a difference,” he concluded.
The Chappellet Winery Barrel Room With Tasting Experience
Chappellet
Chappellet: Crafting High-Quality Wines At A Fair Price
Another important success factor is to craft high quality wine, but keep prices at a reasonable rate. In Napa Valley where the prices of vineyard land and labor have increased steadily each year, this has been challenging, but the Chappellets have worked hard to create exquisite wines that garner high ratings from the critics, but are also considered to be a good value.
For example, their Chappellet Mountain Cuvee, made from hillside grapes that are a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, cabernet franc, and petit verdot, is $60 per bottle. This is a very high quality Napa Valley based wine that is still affordable. Brimming with blackberry, plum, and spices, it has a rich velvety texture with fine-grained tannins and hints of cedar, herbs, and toasty oak.
In addition to the cabernet based wines for which they are known, Chappellet also makes wine from chardonnay, malbec, zinfandel, viognier and chenin blanc grapes. These wines range from $60 to $95 per bottle.
Their signature masterpiece wine is the Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon. Sourced from the very best blocks in the vineyard, it is a beautifully aromatic wine with rich dark cherry, cassis and plum, along with notes of allspice, cedar, black tea and loamy earth. On the palate it is richly concentrated, with powerful velvety tannins, and a long luxurious finish. The 2022 vintage received 99 points from The Wine Independent and is priced at $325, on allocation.
A Selection of Chappellet Wines
Chappellet
No New Vineyard Plantings at This Time
Chappellet has 640 acres of land on Pritchard Hill, with 105 ‘plantable’ vineyard acres, though not all are under vine at this time. Cyril stressed that with the challenging market conditions, it is not the time to expand plantings of new vines. Furthermore, any new plantings should be based on varietals that are predicted to appeal to consumers, as well as what the region (appellation) can grow successfully.
This trend towards thoughtful vineyard planting has been stressed by the Allied Grape Growers for the last several years, with recommendations to pull out vines in lower performing regions in California.
For example, in the past two years, an estimated 37,500 acres of vines have been grubbed up in California, but an additional 50,000 more need to be removed in order to bring supply into balance, according to Jeff Bitter, President of Allied Grape Growers.
In Sonoma County, 30% of the winegrape production went unsold this year, according to Karissa Kruse, President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers. She added that many wineries are using this time of dwindling consumer demand to pull out vines and replant varietals that have more consumer appeal, such as sauvignon blanc and other crisp, light white wines.
Given that it usually takes 3 years before a grape vine is mature enough to produce a crop, there is hope that the supply/demand situation may eventually be balanced out.
Vineyards that are sustainably or organically certified are also something that should be considered, because a recent a Wine Market Council study showed that 60% of younger (ages 21 to 40) and multicultural consumers want ‘greener’ wine, sustainable or organic.
“All of our vineyards are certified organic. This was important to my mother, because we also grew our own vegetables, so we were one of the earliest to achieve this certification,” reported Cyril Chappellet.
The winery is also completely powered by solar, has installed a state of the art water processing and conservation system, and insures that more than 80% of their property remains in a natural state with native plants and vegetation.
Chappellet on Family Winery Succession Planning
Applying a long-term strategic view for the family wine business is also important to success in the market, according to Cyril Chappellet.
“We are 100% family owned and run, but we believe in bringing in outside expertise. It’s better to create a well-oiled machine with professional people in key roles to drive the business,” Cyril said.
To this end, the Board of Directors is composed of family members but also experts from other industries. “Transfer of the family business is a top priority.”
He cited some of the small family business succession statistics showing that the first generation establishes the business, the second generation grows the business, but successive generations are often not as interested in taking over.
“The odds are against you if you expect someone from the next generation to take the reins, so that is why we are setting up this governance structure to insure the long-term success of the family business,” stated Cyril.
Though not all second generation family members are involved in running the business, as Cyril and his brother are, they do participate in other ways. Many are on the Board of Directors, and Cyril explained that one of his sisters is an artist and has designed some of the wine labels.
In addition, all members of the family try to come back at least once every year and bring their children to enjoy being in the outdoors, running through the vineyards, and staying engaged with the family and the land.
The Chappellet Family of Chappellet Winery in Napa Valley
Chappellet
Cyril Chappellet on the Future of the U.S. Wine Industry
At the end of the conversation, we discussed the future of the U.S. wine industry, and how soon Cyril thought the industry would emerge from what some journalists are calling a ‘wine crisis.’
“I believe our industry will be more condensed over the next few years. With younger people not drinking quite as much, the sheer volume is changing. It will be tough for a while. There’s only so many spaces on the wine list. The question is ‘How do you make sure it is our wine?’,” stated Cyril.
But in the end Cyril believes the U.S. wine industry will survive. Strong family brands that stay close to their customers by engaging with them as often as possible, and producing high quality American wines at a fair price are important parts of the solution.
“We’ve been working harder than we’ve ever done,” stated Cyril. “We are not gaining as many new people, but we are taking better care of the people we have.”
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