Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards

Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards, is a 53 acre vineyard located in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains above Saratoga, California and the Silicon Valley. The vineyard was renamed Savannah-Chanel Vineyards in 1996 when the Congress Springs Vineyards were purchased by the Michael Ballard family, naming the vineyard after the family's two daughters.

Lawsuit

In 1998 the Ballards were sued by Chanel cosmetics over the use of the name "Chanel" in the winery's name even though it had no relation to their corporation. Rather than fight a long costly court battle, the Ballard's modified the vineyard name to Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards. The new name first appeared on their 1999 label wines. The existing vines and winery itself have been located on the same hill for over a century

Wines

Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards is best known for their Pinot Noir wines produced from both local and estate grapes. They also produce award-winning Zinfandel wines that are produced from the original estate Zinfandel vines planted in 1910. These vines are the oldest surviving Zinfandel vines in California. Pinot Blanc, Port, Chardonnay and several other varietals are also produced by the vineyard.

Recently Savannah-Chanelle's Garys' 2002 Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands was named "Best Pinot Noir in California" by the 2005 California State Fair.

References

*cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/06/WIG22P13HU1.DTL&type=printable | title=BELLY UP TO THE BARN: Santa Cruz Pinots star at Savannah-Chanelle | publisher=Hearst Communications, Inc. | work=San Francisco Chronicle | author=Carol Ness | date=2007-04-06
*cite news | url=http://www.svcn.com/archives/saratoganews/05.03.00/winery-0018.html/ | title=http://www.svcn.com/archives/saratoganews/05.03.00/winery-0018.html/ | publisher=Metro Publishing Inc. | work=Saratoga News | author=Kara Chalmers | date=2000-05-03

External links

* [http://www.savannahchanelle.com/ Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards]