Merryvale – NAPA GALA

MERRYVALE VINEAYARDS

Napa Valley was a different place when the winery we now know as Merryvale Vineyards was established. It was 1933, and Sunnyhill Winery, as it was then called, was the first to be built in Napa after the repeal of Prohibition. This is where Robert and Peter Mondavi got their start, making wine with their father, Ceasare Mondavi. It was a time when rail cars running in front of the property carried their wines to San Francisco and beyond.
In the 1940s and 50s, when the site was the “co-op” known as Sunny St. Helena, this same winery was where a small group of Napa Valley grape growers brought their harvested fruit to be crushed, vinified and sold. Later, in the 1970s, the building served as a wine storage facility for The Christian Brothers.
Merryvale’s modern history began in 1983, when a small group of likeminded partners bottled its first wine under the Merryvale label. In 1986, the group purchased Sunny St. Helena, and after extensive renovations, changed its name to Merryvale Vineyards, giving it the historic St. Helena home it occupies to this day.
1991 marked a turning point, when Swiss-born Jack Schlatter became a partner in Merryvale. Compared to his native Europe, where wine had been integral to the culture for centuries, the California wine industry was still relatively undeveloped, and Jack saw nothing but potential.
It was 1996 when Jack and his family, including his son, René, who joined the winery the previous year, became sole owners of Merryvale. Free to chart their own course, the Schlatters immediately began looking for land, knowing that owning and farming their own vineyards was the best way to achieve the high quality of wines they wished to produce. The Profile Vineyard was their first purchase, a magnificent site that remains in the family’s portfolio today.

WWW.MERRYVALE.COM

STEELE COOPER

DIRECTOR OF SALES

Steele Cooper joined the Merryvale family as Director of Sales in 2021 from Rémy Cointreau where his focus was LOUIS XIII. As LOUIS XIII Vice President, Sales, at Rémy Cointreau since 2017, Cooper oversaw the brand’s performance across all U.S. and Caribbean markets. He developed and managed the team of LOUIS XIII Ambassadors in the major markets as well as all programming for the Rémy Cointreau field sales organization and distributor network across the U.S.

Steele Cooper previously worked for RNDC TX as Director of Supplier Business Development, was a TX Region Manager for The PlumpJack Group, and got his first start in the wine and spirits business as Senior Market Manager for TX On-Premise with Rémy Cointreau. Cooper graduated from Washington & Lee University in Virginia and holds certifications in Financial Management from Cornell University and Digital Marketing Strategy from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.