Napa Valley’s historic Alfred Frediani vineyard sells for $18.5 million
Eisele Vineyard, one of Napa Valley’s notable producers of luxury-tier cabernet sauvignon, has increased its vine acres by 55% via the purchase of a neighboring property for $18.5 million.
The purchase price, provided by the deal broker, works out to nearly $881,000 for each of the 21 planted acres on the 27.65-acre Alfred Frediani Ranch property on the same Pickett Road in Calistoga as Eisele.
The property that was sold Feb. 1 wasn’t Jim Frediani’s 180-acre Frediani Vineyards property on Silverado Trail, according to James Keller, a Napa real estate agent who represented the Frediani family and Eisele.
Eisele’s 100% cabernet sauvignon wines retail for hundreds of dollars a bottle. The latest release — 1,950 bottles from the 2019 vintage — is listed for sale at roughly $650 a bottle
Alfred Frediani Ranch is planted to grape varieties cabernet sauvignon, petite sirah, merlot and valdiguié. The first vines were planted on the Pickett Road property in 1901, and the Frediani family bought it shortly thereafter, adding petite sirah in 1939 and cab in 1964, according to the Historical Vineyard Society. Al Frediani died in October 2018, and his son Steve took over management of the property.
Eisele, with its first release in 1971, has 38 planted vine acres on its estate at 2155 Pickett Road. Most of that acreage has cabernet sauvignon vines, with much of the rest in blenders cabernet franc and petite verdot for Eisele’s Altagracia label, according to the website. The property also has syrah, sauvignon blanc and viognier vines.
Bart and Daphne Araujo purchased Eisele in 1990 then in 2013 sold Araujo and Eisele to France’s Artémis Group, a holding company of the Pinault family for brands Château Latour in Bordeaux, Domaine d’Eugénie in Burgundy and Château Grillet in the Rhône Valley.
Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Before coming to the Business Journal in 1999, he wrote for Bay City News Service in San Francisco. Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256.
