An Immersive Year-Long Residency Featuring a Personal Exhibition, Curated Talks, Dynamic Tastings, and the Unveiling of a Commissioned Site-Specific Artwork in Early 2026
December 10, 2025 (Rutherford, CA) — Bella Union Winery, Napa Valley’s premier destination winery for fine wine and dynamic experienceswithin the esteemed House of Far Niente portfolio, proudly announces the second edition of its Artist in Residence program, featuring acclaimed artist Eduardo Sarabia. Building on the momentum of the inaugural residency with Harold Mendez (2024–2025), the second edition with Sarabia explores the intersection of winemaking artistry and contemporary art, fostering an engaging environment of cultural exchange and creative expression. The year-long program includes an exhibition featuring over 20 artworks by Sarabia, alongside special talks and tastings, and culminates in a site-specific commissioned artwork that becomes a permanent part of the winery’s evolving art collection.
Beth Nickel, Proprietress of Far Niente Winery, commented, “We are very pleased to welcome Eduardo Sarabia as our second Artist in Residence at Bella Union Winery. His bold, thought-provoking work beautifully reflects the themes of conversation, sense of place, and tradition – each at the heart of what makes Bella Union a destination to visit. This program is about more than simply putting art on our walls; it’s about storytelling through a legacy of artists and by celebrating the roots that shape our wine and beloved Napa Valley community.”
Born in Los Angeles and based in Guadalajara, Sarabia is internationally recognized for his multidisciplinary practice, incorporating traditional materials favored by local craftspeople, including ceramics, hand-woven textiles, and glass. Working across sculpture, painting, and immersive installation, Sarabia explores the layered social and economic intersections between Mexico and the contemporary globalized world. Known for blending romantic visual narratives and cultural motifs with elements of social commentary, Sarabia’s work navigates the space between mythmaking and material reality – often engaging with Mexico’s independent economies and folk traditions to reflect on the physical and human impact of economic forces.
“I’m thrilled to be part of Bella Union Winery’s artist residency as it enters its second year,” said Sarabia. “My own work has always drawn from histories, traditions, and the way stories migrate across borders, and at Bella Union Winery, those same ideas live in the vineyard—where heritage and experimentation come together in the art of winemaking. This residency is a rare opportunity to let my practice unfold in dialogue with the land and the community that sustains it.”
This fall, Sarabia begins his residency at Bella Union Winery, bringing his distinct iconography and narrative style rooted in his Mexican heritage to deepen the winery’s evolving artistic identity. His work reflects Bella Union’s commitment to honoring tradition, place, and innovation through visual storytelling that connects Napa’s landscape, its people, and its history. To develop the visual framework of his exhibition, Sarabia will engage with every aspect of the estate and the winemaking process, from its environment to its people, including Bella Union Winemaker Brooke Bobyak Price and her dedicated team. Throughout the duration of his residency, winery guests and art enthusiasts alike will be able to enjoy Sarabia’s exhibition featuring a collection of more than 20 artworks installed throughout Bella Union Winery’s high-concept vignettes and unique tasting spaces.
Featured highlights of the installation include the Ceiba Sagrada series anchored by Ceiba Sagrada 24 (2017), which features a striking constellation of 14 clay-white ceramic, fiberglass, and cast metal birds encircling the sacred ceiba tree – an emblem of ancestral continuity. Layered with silkscreened images of endangered species like the quetzal, the installation conjures a rich dialogue using indigenous artistry to question present-day economies of exchange, where myth, ecology, and survival remain deeply entangled. Another key piece is Sarabia’s Chef Michael(2024), part of an autobiographical painting series, where blurred portraits of friends and collaborators dissolve behind expressive color, echoing painting’s ability to capture and manipulate memory. The capstone of Sarabia’s exhibition will be his commissioned piece for Bella Union Winery, debuting in the spring of 2026 and permanently installed alongside Mendez’s A Moment’s Notice.
Bella Union Winery – the third estate in the House of Far Niente portfolio, alongside Far Niente and Nickel & Nickel – is nestled in the heart of Napa’s Rutherford district. The winery invites guests to explore its estate through immersive tastings of critically acclaimed, small-lot Cabernet Sauvignon-based reds and distinctive white blends, all showcased in thoughtfully designed tasting spaces and artful vignettes, including the striking Jewel Box, a glass-walled room perched on the second level. With a focus on connection, creativity, and conviviality, Bella Union Winery offers tasting experiences where people and place come together in celebration of great wine, rich storytelling, and the ever-evolving spirit of Napa Valley.
Sarabia’s work is now on display through Fall 2026. For more information and reservations, please visit Tock HERE and follow along online at bellaunionwine.com and via Instagram @bellaunionwine.
About Bella Union Winery’s Artist in Residence Program
Bella Union Winery’s Artist in Residence program embodies the House of Far Niente’s enduring commitment to winemaking excellence, creative expression, and immersive guest experiences that go beyond the traditional tasting room. Launched in 2024 with acclaimed artist Harold Mendez as its inaugural resident, the program enters its second chapter in 2025 with renewed energy and purpose, welcoming artist Eduardo Sarabia. Designed to celebrate the intersection of culture, craft and community, the program invites Bella Union guests to connect more deeply with the stories and spirit that shape the winery. Each year, a celebrated artist with roots in Mexican culture and heritage is chosen to showcase a selection of personal works, thoughtfully installed throughout Bella Union Winery’s high-concept vignettes and unique tasting spaces. With meaningful ties to Napa Valley’s legacy, the residency reflects both the destination’s history and the profound contributions of the Mexican community to the region’s winemaking legacy. The residency culminates in a site-specific commissioned piece that becomes a permanent part of the winery’s evolving art collection, cementing each artist’s legacy within Bella Union’s creative landscape. Beyond showcasing talent, the program is designed to leave a lasting imprint – one that honors cultural connection and the individuals whose artistry, whether expressed among the vines or on the walls, shapes the spirit of the Bella Union experience.
About Eduardo Sarabia
Eduardo Sarabia uses narrative as his primary material. Over the years, he has developed a unique visual language and personal aesthetic rooted in his lived experience but also shaped by a kind of fiction that runs through the construction of his stories. Born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents, Sarabia explores the cultural impact of social phenomena, with historical and geographic contexts subtly permeating his work. While his practice is often autobiographical, it’s marked by an ongoing process of experimentation, personal references are deliberately obscured to allow open interpretation and emphasize on the cultural, sociopolitical, or mystical frameworks that surround his life. This becomes most evident in his paintings: personal photographs partially obscured by floral motifs that not only invite a tautological reflection but also point to the inner stories that shape his perception of reality. These works reflect a process that resonates universally, one that drifts between fiction, forgetting and the persistence of memory. Sarabia’s work unfolds at the intersection of traditional craft materials such as ceramics, textiles and contemporary methodologies, spanning sculpture, painting, installation, and performative practices. In 2023 and 2024, Sarabia conducted research on the Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024, a theme that shaped a series of solo exhibitions: Viaje hacia el Eclipse (2024) at the Museo de Arte de Mazatlán; 4 Minutos de Oscuridad (2024) at Galería OMR, Mexico City; and Prologue (2023) at Maureen Paley, London.
His work has been featured in institutions internationally, including the Museo Tamayoin Mexico City, Dallas Contemporary, Tokyo Wonder Site, with solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the New Museum in New York, among others.
About Bella Union Winery
Rooted in Rutherford and driven by expertise and a creative vision, Bella Union was founded in 2012 by Far Niente Wine Estates. We celebrate the artistry of winemaking by showcasing different expressions of Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon produced in small lots and world-renowned for its consistently smooth and structured style. Our estate serves as our cornerstone, where we provide an immersive customer experience that inspires creativity and fosters a sense of connection, resulting in a beautiful union of wine, people, and unforgettable memories. bellaunionwine.com.
About Far Niente Wine Estates
Far Niente Wine Estates represents a legacy of excellence and stewardship that spans over 135 years, under a single vision of artistry, integrity, and community. As stewards of more than 400 acres of premier Napa and Russian River Valley vineyards, Far Niente Wine Estates’ collection of world-class wineries includes Far Niente Winery in Oakville, established in 1885; single vineyard, single varietal pioneer Nickel & Nickel; Bella Union Winery, dedicated to showcasing diverse expressions of Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon-based blends; Post & Beam, centered on time-honored techniques used to craft its contemporary style; EnRoute, devoted to world-class Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley; and Dolce, America’s leading late-harvest wine. Together, they offer a portfolio of wines as distinctive as the moments they celebrate, ranging in price from $50 – $500. For more information, please visit www.FarNiente.com.
