Chappellet Winery: The Pritchard Hill Story
In 1966, Donn Chappellet sold his shares in a Los Angeles vending company and moved his wife Molly and six kids to a raw hillside in Napa Valley. The property was Pritchard Hill, then undeveloped and considered too rocky for commercial vineyards. A year later Donn and Molly founded Chappellet Vineyards, planting on the high-elevation slopes at a time when almost every other Napa winery stuck to the valley floor. Chappellet's 1969 Cabernet — the first commercial vintage — was later compared by Wine Spectator to a Latour of the same era. Sixty years on, Pritchard Hill is Napa's most prestigious hillside neighborhood, home to Bryant, Colgin, Ovid, and Continuum.
Chappellet Winery is one of the few remaining great family-owned Napa producers, and the second generation now runs it: Cyril Chappellet as Chairman and CEO, Dominic Chappellet as COO. Best known for Cabernet Sauvignon (the flagship Pritchard Hill Cabernet earned a rare 100-point score from Wine Advocate on the 2016 vintage), the estate also produces Signature Cabernet, Mountain Cuvée, Chenin Blanc, and Chardonnay. The Chenin Blanc is worth calling out: Chappellet is one of the very few Napa Valley producers still making a serious varietal Chenin, a grape more associated with the Loire.
Reds Set: Cheese and Charcuterie for Chappellet Cabernet
The iGourmet x Chappellet Red Wine set pairs with Chappellet's Cabernets — Signature Cabernet, Mountain Cuvée, and the flagship Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon — and it's built around the aged, structured cheese profile those wines want.
The cheese lineup is four American and European semi-hard cheeses: Lake Effect (a creamy Wisconsin cheese from Blakesville Creamery), Spanish Mahón (firm, buttery, subtly briny), Marieke Young Raw Milk Gouda (nutty with a caramel edge), and Prairie Breeze Cheddar from Milton Creamery in Iowa (bold, crumbly, with the sweet-savory profile that stands up to Cab). Charcuterie is a lightly smoked Mitica Italian speck and a Brooklyn Cured bourbon-and-cherry salami — the fruit notes in the salami echo the dark berry character in Chappellet reds. Also in the box: Blake Hill's fresh tomato savory jam, Mitica classic Italian taralli crackers, Divina mini toasts, a Spanish cocktail snack mix, and an Amedei Toscano Frutti Rossi dark chocolate bar blended with red fruit that closes the pairing after the wine is finished.
Whites Set: Cheese and Charcuterie for Chappellet Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay
Chappellet's Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay are the target for the iGourmet x Chappellet White Wine set, and the cheese selection leans into the fresh, food-friendly character of both wines. Two soft-ripened French cheeses lead: a Guillot French Camembert (buttery, mushroomy) and a Tentation de Saint-Félicien triple crème from Fromagerie Mons (rich, lactic, and smooth). A Gorgonzola Dolce DOP adds a mild blue for contrast against off-dry whites, and The Truffle Kid Spanish goat's milk cheese brings tangy goat character with a truffle infusion that plays off aromatic Chenin. Italian prosciutto and a fennel-scented Brooklyn Cured finocchiona salami handle the charcuterie side without overpowering the whites.
The accompaniments in the Whites set are sweeter than in the Reds set: Blake Hill's caramelized fig preserves with pear and honey, Mitica Italian lavender honey (which is particularly good with the Gorgonzola and the goat's milk cheese), Rustic Bakery vanilla bean shortbread cookies, Italian taralli, and Divina mini toasts.
Serving Notes and What Ships With the Sets
Both sets ship free with expedited perishable shipping in insulated packaging with gel packs (dry ice in summer months). Neither set includes the wine itself — Chappellet wines ship direct from chappellet.com and are worth ordering ahead so both the wine and the pairing set arrive around the same time. For serving, pull the cheeses and charcuterie out of the fridge about an hour before serving so the flavors open up, and pour the reds around 60–65°F, the whites around 45–50°F. Both sets are gift-ready; either can be sent directly to a recipient with a gift message added at checkout.
Also Worth Exploring
For anyone building a pairing board without a specific Chappellet bottle in mind, the full wine pairing kits selection covers curated boxes matched to eight different wine varietals, from Champagne through Zinfandel. To browse individual cheeses tagged for red or white wine (rather than a pre-built assortment), the red wine pairings collection and white wine pairings collection carry hundreds of options. For other gift ideas — cheese boards, artisan gift boxes, and free-shipping selections — the cheese gift baskets and boxes collection is where to start. And to browse the full 550+ cheese catalog and build a Chappellet-worthy board from scratch, the 550+ artisan cheese range is the mother page.
Chappellet Cheese Sets: Frequently Asked Questions
Each set includes eleven items — four cheeses, two charcuterie selections, and five accompaniments — packed for shipping and gift presentation. The Reds set carries cheeses matched to structured Cabernet: Lake Effect from Blakesville Creamery (Wisconsin), Spanish Mahón, Marieke Young Raw Milk Gouda, and Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze Cheddar. The Whites set leans into soft and creamy: Guillot French Camembert, Tentation de Saint-Félicien triple crème from Fromagerie Mons, Gorgonzola Dolce DOP, and The Truffle Kid Spanish goat's milk cheese. Charcuterie in the Reds set is Italian speck plus a bourbon-and-cherry salami; the Whites set carries prosciutto and finocchiona salami. Accompaniments include Blake Hill preserves, Italian crackers, mini toasts, and — set-appropriate — either dark chocolate (Reds) or lavender honey and shortbread (Whites).