Web Winery
Since 1995

Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards

Saratoga, Santa Cruz Mountains. A winery in the redwoods on Congress Springs Road, with Zinfandel planted in 1910.

OpenChecked Nov 15, 2026, source1

Visit savannahchanelle.com

About the winery

Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards is a winery in the redwoods on Congress Springs Road, a little over three miles above the village of Saratoga1,7. French immigrant Pierre Pourroy and his brother Eloi worked for Jean Narcisse Aubry before buying and planting their own estate here: the winery's history page dates that to 1901, while the owners' letter says the Pourroys planted the first grapes in 18922,3. Zinfandel planted in 1910 and Cabernet Franc planted in 1920 still grow here, and the tasting room is in a redwood barn built in 19122. In 1971 the property was sold and became Congress Springs Winery2.

Michael and Kellie Ballard bought the property in 1996 and named the winery after their two daughters2,7. On Web Winery it first appeared as Savannah-Chanel Vineyards8; according to Wikipedia, a 1998 lawsuit from Chanel led to the present spelling, used from the 1999 wines5. By 2003 more than 80 percent of the wine was Pinot Noir, much of it from the Sonoma Coast and the Santa Lucia Highlands7. Tony Craig, a former actor from Gateshead in England who had been winemaker at David Bruce Winery, took over in 20039 and is still head winemaker2. Since 2018 he has also been winemaker at Silver Mountain Vineyards6.

In August 2025 the Saratoga Cemetery District bought the land, the Mercury News reported4. The Ballards' letter says the winery business, which leases its site, was not sold, and that the new owner's use of the land is at least 15 to 20 years away; until then the winery carries on unchanged3.

Known for

  • Pinot Noir
  • estate Zinfandel from 1910 vines
  • Cabernet Franc
  • Carignan

From the archives

Pages Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards published on the original Web Winery, from December 1998. Visiting details in them are long out of date.

Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards logo: a loose pen sketch of two figures above the name in gold serif type.
Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards' logo on Web Winery, 2000.
  1. History: the Pourroys, the Ballards and the turn to Pinot Noir. The winery's 2003 history page: vineyards first established by Pierre Pourroy in 1892, a gravity-flow winery added in 1917, and Michael and Kellie Ballard's purchase in 1996, naming it for their daughters. It said more than 80 percent of production was by then Pinot Noir, made by Michael McNeill, who joined in 1998 from Chalone and Oregon. Wayback copy
  2. New winemaker Tony Craig introduces himself, 2003. A letter from Anthony (Tony) Craig on joining Savannah-Chanelle as winemaker in 2003: growing up in Gateshead, training as an actor in Newcastle and London, coming to California, and starting in the cellar at a Los Gatos winery (David Bruce) where he rose to winemaker. He had also started his own label, Sonnet. Wayback copy
  3. Savannah-Chanel Vineyards home page, 1998. The winery's page under its first name, Savannah-Chanel Vineyards: established by Pierre Pourroy in 1892, 14 of its 58 acres planted to Cabernet Franc, Carignane, Zinfandel and Chardonnay, a 1912 redwood tasting room, and a gravity-flow winery first opened in 1917. Wayback copy

Nearby in Santa Cruz Mountains