Preservation and Cultural Heritage Advocate Purchases World-Class St. Helena Winery and Hospitality Center from Bart and Daphne Araujo
(Rutherford, Calif. – November 4, 2024) – Bella Oaks Proprietor Suzanne Deal Booth today announced that she has acquired the eleven-acre Wheeler Farms winery in St. Helena from its current ownership group, which includes Bart and Daphne Araujo. The purchase includes a winemaking and hospitality facility, six and a half acres of planted vineyard, and the J.H. Wheeler wine brand and inventory. All operations will continue under Deal Booth’s ownership of Wheeler Farms, including winemaking services and hospitality experiences. Wheeler Farms will remain family-owned and operated, with the talented production, culinary, and hospitality teams in place, who will report to the new management, Shae and Nigel Kinsman.
Deal Booth will continue the Wheeler Farms name and preserve the biodynamically farmed estate featuring culinary gardens, a fruit orchard, bee hives, and heritage chickens alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc vines. Wheeler Farms’ culinary program highlights the property’s bounty, offering guests farm-to-table food pairings, multi-course, wine-paired lunch and dinner events, and intimate tasting experiences.
The purchase of Wheeler Farms secures a long-term home for Bella Oaks production and, with a generous hospitality permit already in place, allows for the continued use of the Hospitality House to welcome visitors by appointment. Bella Oaks’ winemaker, Nigel Kinsman, will continue to craft Bella Oaks wine in the facility alongside the small group of highly regarded winemakers and wineries who currently utilize Wheeler Farm’s winemaking services, including Accendo, Annulus, Impensata, J.H.Wheeler, Kinsman Eades, TOR, and Vice Versa.
With a deep professional background in preserving cultural heritage, Suzanne Deal Booth’s acquisition of Wheeler Farms is both a natural and strategic extension. She purchased the historic Bella Oaks estate in 2010, has been producing wine at Wheeler Farms since its first vintage in 2017, and has been an investor in Wheeler Farms since 2021. In 2021, Deal Booth also acquired the former Swanson Vineyards winery adjacent to Bella Oaks on Manley Lane and is securing permit approval from Napa County for a modification of the current facility, bringing it to its potential as a state-of-the-art winemaking facility.
Deal Booth stated, “Bart and Daphne have been wonderful friends and mentors for more than twenty-five years. The opportunity to purchase the well-designed estate they created at Wheeler Farms allows me to continue their legacy while realizing Bella Oaks’ vast potential. I am also proud to be able to keep this outstanding winemaking facility and organic and biodynamic estate family-owned and operated.”
“Suzanne’s acquisition is the logical next step in the continuing evolution of Wheeler Farms as an elite world-class winegrowing and experiential visitor center. Suzanne shares our passion and commitment to excellence in all aspects of Napa Valley history and tradition, as she has demonstrated so beautifully at Bella Oaks. That culture will continue to evolve with Suzanne’s highly capable and passionate involvement at Wheeler Farms. The legacy we started is being passed on to a very kindred spirit,” commented Bart and Daphne Araujo.
Like Bella Oaks, Wheeler Farms has also played a significant role in Napa Valley’s history. Charles Wheeler established the estate in 1880, and at that time, the property included a winery, grapevines, and fruit and nut orchards. Charles’ son, J.H. Wheeler was an early and creative pioneer of viticulture and winemaking. Bart and Daphne Araujo continued the Wheeler family’s legacy when they acquired Wheeler Farms in 2014 after selling the celebrated Eisele Vineyard to Groupe Artémis, the holding company of Chateau Latour owned by the Pinault family.
With an ideal location on Zinfandel Lane between Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail, Wheeler Farms was designed by Taylor Lombardo Architects and built by Wright Contracting, with Nigel Kinsman spearheading the technical design of the winery. Bart and Daphne aimed to create a best-in-class custom crush facility with the industry’s most advanced winemaking equipment, attracting a roster of some of the Valley’s most esteemed winemakers and family-owned brands. The Hospitality House features an open kitchen and a stone fireplace to welcome visitors for an intimate tasting experience. The buildings were designed with environmental efficiency at the forefront, offering significant reductions in energy and water usage. The winery is permitted to produce 70,000 gallons of wine each year, with 8,000 square feet of fermentation space and 12,000 square feet of underground, climate-controlled barrel storage.
Sourcing fruit from a collection of Napa Valley’s most celebrated vineyard sites, J.H. Wheeler produces single-vineyard cabernet sauvignons, including Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, Beckstoffer Georges III, Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper, Franz Hill Vineyard, and Sleeping Lady Vineyard. This approach offers collectors and visitors a unique opportunity to experience the diversity of Napa Valley’s many distinct AVAs. The wines have garnered top scores and praise from key publications, including the Wine Spectator, The Wine Advocate, Vinous, and Decanter.
ABOUT BELLA OAKS
Bella Oaks is a new wine estate five decades in the making, a project that combines one of Napa Valley’s most historic and revered vineyards with the dedication to cultural heritage projects that characterizes the vision of proprietor and cultural preservation advocate Suzanne Deal Booth. The Bella Oaks vineyard is legendary, with a legacy for producing some of Napa Valley’s earliest single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. Recognizing both its history and untapped potential, Deal Booth, who acquired Bella Oaks in 2010, has given this storied vineyard a voice of its own with a production team that includes Winemaker Nigel Kinsman and Master Blender Michel Rolland. The estate produces two wines, the Bella Oaks Proprietary Red and a new addition for 2024, Le Génie, a Cabernet Sauvignon making its debut with the 2021 vintage. With the acquisition of the eleven-acre Wheeler Farms, Deal Booth owns 44 acres in Rutherford and St. Helena. For more information, please visit www.bellaoaks.com.
