Luc Morlet Returns to Newton

Newton Vineyard has announced the appointment of acclaimed winemaker Luc Morlet as Winemaker, a remarkable return to the Spring Mountain estate where Morlet began an important chapter of his California winemaking career three decades ago.

For Newton, the appointment represents far more than a new addition to the winemaking team. It reconnects the estate's future with a significant part of its past as Newton continues rebuilding under new ownership.

Morlet joined Newton Vineyard in 1996 and spent five harvests at the estate. During that period, he crafted Newton's celebrated Unfiltered Chardonnay and played a central role in developing Newton’s Bordeaux-variety program while working alongside internationally renowned Bordeaux consultant Michel Rolland.

Morlet now returns to the mountain, 30 years later.

"Returning to Newton is deeply meaningful to me," said Luc Morlet. "This estate was an important part of my early years in Napa Valley, and I have a tremendous appreciation for its vineyards, its history, and the character of Spring Mountain. To have the opportunity to return and help shape the next chapter of Newton is something very special."

Born in Épernay, France, Morlet comes from a fifth-generation winegrowing family in Champagne. He grew up working in his family's vineyards and went on to earn advanced degrees in viticulture and Œnology, including a DNO and DESS from the Université de Reims, as well as an MBA in Wine Business from Burgundy School of Business.

Before coming to California, Morlet gained experience in Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. In 1994, he became régisseur at Château Dauzac, a classified growth in Margaux, where he worked under prominent Bordeaux consultant Jacques Boissenot.

His move to Napa Valley to join his future wife Jodie also brought him to Newton.

Following five harvests on Spring Mountain, Morlet joined Peter Michael Winery as winemaker, overseeing the 2001 through 2005 vintages. In 2006, when he and Jodie founded Morlet Family Vineyards, he transitioned to a consulting role with Peter Michael, a relationship he continues today.

Over the following two decades, Morlet established himself among California's most highly regarded winemakers. His wines have received international critical acclaim, including 100-point scores across an unusually broad range of varieties and styles, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. His approach combines meticulous farming, precise picking decisions and low-intervention winemaking with an emphasis on expressing individual terroirs and vintages.

Morlet has also been recognized as an innovator in the cellar. He developed Le Trieur™, a specialized sorting device designed to improve fruit selection during harvest, as well as the Gyrobox™, equipment designed for gravity-based handling of wine in puncheons.

Despite everything Morlet has accomplished since leaving Newton, his connection to the estate never entirely disappeared.

During his original tenure, Newton was already known for challenging convention. Its Unfiltered Chardonnay had become one of the wines most closely associated with the property, while its rugged Spring Mountain vineyards provided an opportunity to explore Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in one of Napa Valley's most distinctive mountain environments. Morlet combined the precision and refinement of French viticulture and winemaking with the extraordinary concentration and character possible from California mountain vineyards. His return comes at another pivotal moment in Newton's history.

The estate was severely damaged during the 2020 Glass Fire, which destroyed its historic winery and hospitality facilities. After more than two decades under Moët Hennessy stewardship, Newton was acquired by Napa locals Nick Livanos and Eric Bryan Seuthe, together with family and friends, beginning a new era for the property.

The 2025 vintage marked Newton's first harvest under the renewed ownership, and substantial efforts have continued across the property, including vineyard replanting and working to restore infrastructure on Spring Mountain.

Morlet will now help guide Newton's winemaking as that rebuilding effort moves forward.

"There are very few people who understand both Newton's history and its future potential the way Luc does," said Eric Bryan Seuthe, Newton Partner. "He knows these mountains, he was part of an important period in Newton's past, and everything he has accomplished since speaks for itself. Bringing Luc back isn't about recreating what Newton was. It's about taking everything that made this estate special and building something great and worthy of its future."

For Newton, the significance of the appointment is difficult to separate from the history of the estate itself. Founded by Peter and Su Hua Newton in 1977, Newton Vineyard was built around the belief that Napa Valley's mountains could produce wines of incredible complexity, structure, and longevity. Its vineyards rise across the slopes of Spring Mountain, where elevation, varied exposures, and complex soils create distinctly different growing conditions from those on the valley floor.

Today, that same land is at the center of Newton's renewal.

Nearly five decades after the estate was founded, and three decades after Morlet first made wine there, the next chapter begins with someone who already knows its terroirs and story.