Exclusive: Foley Family Wines Buys Napa’s Silverado Vineyards

California vintner Bill Foley is bolstering his company’s presence in Napa Valley with a deal to purchase Silverado Vineyards from the Disney Miller family, Wine Spectator has learned. The purchase price is estimated to be north of $150 million.

Founded by Ron Miller and his wife, Diane Disney Miller, Silverado last year marked its 40th anniversary. Its holdings include 300 acres of vineyards, including 100 acres in Napa’s Stags Leap District AVA (where the winery is located), 100 acres in Coombsville and 100 acres in Yountville.

Silverado’s current annual production is about 68,000 cases, sold primarily through the wholesale market, but it holds a permit to make up to 140,000 cases. Its offerings range from Miller Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, at around $25 a bottle, up through single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon expressions like Geo and Solo, the latter selling at around $125.

Silverado’s two founders passed away in recent years—Ron died in 2019 at the age of 85 and Diane, the oldest daughter of Walt Disney and his wife, Lillian, passed in 2013 at age 79—and their seven children have carried on the Silverado legacy. Now the Napa Valley fixture passes to Foley Family Wines, which continues to steadily expand its vineyard and winery footprint in the Golden State.

Silverado Vineyards is based in Stags Leap District, but has vineyards in three parts of the valley, including Miller Ranch in Yountville. (Courtesy Silverado Vineyards)

The move marks the latest in a series of California acquisitions for Foley, including Ferrari-Carano in 2020 and Chateau St. Jean this past December. With those additions filling out the Sonoma portfolio, the play for Silverado significantly raises Foley’s profile in Napa, where its existing holdings include Foley Johnson on Highway 29, cult Cabernet brand Merus and Kuleto, where the estate vineyards were mostly destroyed by wildfires two years ago and are now being replanted.

In addition to his wine holdings, which also include Chalk Hill, Sebastiani, Chalone, Firestone, Lincourt, Foley Sonoma, Guenoc, Langtry and Clifford Bay, among others, Foley is chairman of commercial data and analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet and title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial, as well as majority owner of the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights.

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