Web Winery
Since 1995

Clos LaChance Winery

San Martin, Santa Clara Valley. Founded in 1992 by Bill and Brenda Murphy; CordeValle Winery since 2025.

Changed handsChecked Nov 15, 2026, source1,2

Visit cordevallewinery.com

Changed hands

Clos LaChance Winery is now CordeValle Winery, and you can still taste at the San Martin estate2. CordeValle, the golf resort next door, bought it from its founders, Bill and Brenda Murphy, in 2025: the Murphys announced the sale in March3 and the resort its purchase that September1.

About the winery

Clos LaChance began in a Saratoga back yard. In 1987 Bill and Brenda Murphy planted Chardonnay there while landscaping; at first a home winemaker made the wine in return for half of it, and by 1992 they had gone commercial, adding Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, according to a February 1996 Saratoga News article the winery posted on Web Winery8. The name joins clos, an enclosed vineyard, with LaChance, Brenda's maiden name6. Bill was still working at Hewlett-Packard at the time8.

In those years the Murphys owned no winery building. They made the wine in leased space at Roudon-Smith near Scotts Valley and bought grapes from local growers, as a March 1996 San Jose Mercury News article on their site described9. Their 1999 page said all the grapes came from small Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards, pressed as whole clusters and fermented in French oak barrels6. The hummingbird label, designed by Rick Tharp with art by Jana Heer, won a bronze medal for package design at the Western Art Directors Club's West Coast Show in November 19957.

The Murphys planted a vineyard beside the CordeValle golf course in San Martin in 1999 and opened their winery there in 2002, according to a community history of Santa Cruz Mountains wineries4. Over the years production grew from 200 cases to 80,000, and the winery became a place for concerts, weddings and events1. In 2025 the Murphys sold it to the resort next door, which renamed it CordeValle Winery1.

Known for

  • Chardonnay
  • Pinot Noir
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • the hummingbird label

In the press

From the archives

Pages Clos LaChance Winery published on the original Web Winery, from December 1998. Visiting details in them are long out of date.

  1. Clos LaChance Wines, 1999. Bill and Brenda Murphy's page, on Web Winery by February 1999, described a small private winery making Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards: picked by hand, pressed as whole clusters, fermented and aged in French oak, with every bottle numbered. It explained the name and the hummingbird on the label. Wayback copy
  2. Three medals and a label award, 1995. A November 1995 page reported that all three Clos LaChance wines entered at the Santa Cruz County Fair, in the winery's second year of production, won medals. It also announced a bronze medal at the Western Art Directors Club's West Coast Show for the Cabernet Sauvignon package by Rick Tharp, which moved the required label text to the back. Wayback copy
  3. Backyard vines grow into business. A February 1996 Saratoga News profile told how Bill and Brenda Murphy's backyard Chardonnay, planted in 1987, became a commercial winery by 1992, making its wine in leased space at Roudon-Smith. It covered the hummingbird label, a 1993 Chardonnay served at a White House dinner in October 1995, and how the couple divided the work. Wayback copy

Nearby in Santa Clara Valley