Peter Newton co-founded Sterling Vineyards in the 1960s and sold it to Coca-Cola in 1977; a year later, the Oxford-educated Englishman and his wife Su Hua, a former Coco Chanel runway model turned physician, bought 750 forested acres above St. Helena on Spring Mountain and started over. The land needed to be cleared and replanted from nothing, and the couple built terraces into the steep hillside along with an English parterre garden, a Chinese red gate and a British telephone box, reflecting both their backgrounds. Winemaker John Kongsgaard released the influential Unfiltered Chardonnay in 1990, the first Napa wine to state the method on its label, and the flagship Puzzle Bordeaux blend followed from the 1992 vintage. LVMH took a controlling interest in 2001; the estate expanded to include fruit from Mount Veeder, Yountville, Carneros and Knights Valley alongside the original Spring Mountain vines, three of which are CCOF-certified organic. In 2025, LVMH sold Newton to Napa locals Eric Bryan Seuthe and Nick Livanos.