Beaulieu Vineyard Is Back

By Jonathan Cristaldi · Photos by Alexander Rubin

Napa Valley is in the midst of a real renaissance: Several of its founding estates, under different corporate owners, are undergoing a rebuild. Robert Mondavi Winery reopened its Oakville estate in April after a three-year, reportedly $200-million renovation, while Joseph Phelps, under new ownership, has spent the past year ripping out roughly 45% of the vines at its St. Helena home ranch to replant with longevity in mind. I don’t think any of these producers expect to see a return on their investment anytime soon, making these projects remarkable examples of long-term stewardship in a region built on legacy.

As of this summer, Beaulieu Vineyard (BV), which has been owned by Treasury Wine Estates since 2016, has joined that list. After a nearly two-year renovation of its original stone winery buildings, built in 1885 and 1887, BV opened its new Rutherford Hospitality Center on July 13, completing the most transformative restoration of the historic estate and its visitor experience in the winery’s 125-year history.

When I recently walked into the finished building, my first impression was slightly disorienting: It felt less like a Napa tasting room and more like a First Growth château in Bordeaux or an old quinta in the Douro—a place with centuries behind it, not decades. That’s a surprising thing for a space that reopened this summer to pull off, and credit belongs directly to the design team—Napa’s Signum Architecture on the structure, Janet Mercier of San Francisco firm BAMO leading the interiors—for creating a warm, inviting atmosphere that doesn’t feel staged. I immediately wanted to call the tour off to sit at the expansive bar and peacefully sip the day away, but as we continued, my takeaway wasn’t just admiration for the renovation but anticipation of how often both consumers and trade will want to revisit this space.

In the weeks around the opening, I interviewed Nate Weis, BV’s general manager and senior winemaker, and Luke Magnini, its director of hospitality. Weis, who arrived mid-renovation in March 2025, follows a lineage that includes winemakers such as André Tchelistcheff, who was hired by Georges de Latour in 1938 and was BV’s head winemaker for 35 years; Dick Peterson; Joel Aiken; Jeffrey Stambor; and, most recently, Trevor Durling. Weis comes from Napa winemaking stock himself: His father, Michael, worked at Robert Mondavi Winery and Vichon. Before BV, Weis spent over a decade at Silver Oak Cellars, where he served as its third winemaker.

Of his current role, Weis said, “Expect an evolution more than a revolution from me. BV isn’t a place that calls for dramatic revision. My approach is to listen first, learn deeply, and build on the tremendous foundation already in place.”

That restraint extends to the long-term investments made across BV’s vineyards since 2016, including the use of regenerative farming practices and water-efficient precision irrigation. “The goal . . . [is] to remove variables and allow our vineyards, particularly in Rutherford, to speak more clearly. What’s fascinating is how closely that mindset aligns with André Tchelistcheff’s philosophy. We like to ask ourselves, ‘What would André do?’” Weis noted.

In the restored winery, Tchelistcheff’s analytical instincts are preserved: Among the artifacts in a new historical installation that welcomes guests in the entryway is a page from his 1938 laboratory notebook, recording alcohol, acid, and tannin readings for that vintage’s Cabernet. “We have found . . . that he used early analytical tools to measure tannin, so paying attention to phenolics isn’t exactly new,” Weis mused. Regarding the famous Rutherford dust, a term coined by Tchelistcheff, “‘sweet cocoa’ is really my favorite consistent descriptor [found in Tchelistcheff’s notes] so far,” he added.

Drawing from an extensive collection of historical materials cataloged by archivist Lynn Downey over the course of nearly two years, the timeline is not a wall of text but a display of small, individually lit vignettes pairing a date with a real object. For 1902, a gnarled, grafted vine root is displayed with a public notice from “Mr. G. de LATOUR” to “Winegrowers,” soliciting phylloxera-resistant rootstock imported from France. For 1919, there is an unopened BV Rutherford Cabernet bottle (bearing a one-cent Prohibition-era tax stamp)—an early use of “Rutherford” on a label, seven decades before the appellation existed.

Another special discovery from the old winery was preserved redwood and Douglas fir salvaged from decommissioned fermentation tanks, some of it carrying the chalk signatures of long-departed cellar workers. Faint names and dates are still visible, now preserved on the ceiling of the Rarity Room—a private room dedicated to tastings of Rarity, a magnum bottling BV makes only in the best vintages—rather than sanded away. “History is tangible here,” Weis said. “The care and attention to detail in reusing so much of the original building and materials inspires [similar] care and attention to detail in making the wines that will come next.”

“Revealing the Soul” of BV

Magnini led fellow Napa Valley producer Sterling Vineyards’ reopening after its own three-year closure, but “BV is different,” he told me. “Sterling was all about bringing the shine back. . . . This project was about revealing the soul of one of Napa Valley’s most important historic wineries. This opening is less about a building and more about a renaissance for the brand.”

Arrivals into the new space are deliberately choreographed: Guests pass the original 1935 “Beaulieu Vineyards Bonded No. 71” sign uncovered during the renovation, then reach a courtyard with a statue of Tchelistcheff and, off to the right in a glass-enclosed “Founder’s Garage,” Georges de Latour’s restored 1925 Cadillac. “Before guests even step foot into the building, we ensure they have a glass of wine in hand,” Magnini said. Inside, past the reception desk and aforementioned installation, a portion of the Rutherford Atrium’s roof has been removed to expose the reinforced 1885 stone walls, forming an open-air courtyard with a tasting room at its rear—“a dramatic juxtaposition,” as Magnini put it, of historic and contemporary structures.

Most notably, several spaces and experiences are inspired by Tchelistcheff: the Maestro Lounge and André Tchelistcheff Hall as well as the Walk With the Maestro tour. “He wasn’t just BV’s legendary winemaker; he was a mentor, scientist, and innovator,” Magnini explained.

The influence of de Latour’s wife, Fernande, meanwhile, runs deeper than her 1947 Vogue feature, framed on the history wall. She was BV’s president after de Latour’s death and the only woman on Napa Valley Vintners’ founding board in 1945. “She was known for her outstanding tea service,” Magnini said, a tradition now folded into BV’s tasting program (see sidebar).

Highlighting the feature that most appeals to visiting wine professionals, Magnini pointed to the aforementioned chalk-signed ceiling in the Rarity Room, noting, “In the first few weeks since opening, we’ve had local and international guests walk into the room and immediately start searching for names. More than once, someone has pointed out a signature and said, ‘I knew that person,’ or ‘I worked with them.’ It’s become a tangible reminder of how interconnected the Napa Valley wine community is.”

As for what might matter most to consumers, BV’s first dedicated culinary program in 125 years, led by chef Sam McKenzie, “draws inspiration from our archival menus, the hospitality traditions of our founders, local agricultural abundance, and BV’s wines themselves,” Magnini added.

Reintroducing an Icon

Asked separately what BV gets to be now that it couldn’t be before the reopening, Weis and Magnini landed on nearly the same answer. “For decades, BV has had one of Napa Valley’s richest histories and some of its most iconic wines,” Weis said. “What we lacked was the ability to tell that story with the depth and distinction it deserved. Now we can.”

“BV gets to offer the level of hospitality it’s always deserved,” Magnini responded. “For more than a century, people have come to Beaulieu Vineyard for the wines. Now they can come for a complete experience that brings those wines, our story, and our sense of place to life.”

That’s the thread connecting Mondavi’s reopening, Phelps’ replanted vineyards, and BV’s rebuilt stone walls: None of it is really about this year’s guests. It’s about making sure there’s still something worth showing to the ones who come next.

The Tasting Experience

Experiences at Beaulieu Vineyard’s (BV) new Rutherford Hospitality Center range from the introductory 1885 Tasting ($50 per person) to the educational Walk With the Maestro tour ($95 per person) and the Time Traveler Experience ($300 per person), a library tasting through BV’s Clone Collection, Georges de Latour Private Reserve, and Rarity wines held in the Rarity Room and accompanied by historically inspired bites that illuminate BV’s formative eras while incorporating pieces from the de Latour family’s china. At the top end sits the Legacy Experience, a $60,000, full-day outing for up to six guests that includes a barrel tasting and custom barrel selection with general manager and senior winemaker Nate Weis. Trade professionals interested in visiting are encouraged to work with their distributor-partner or local BV/Treasury Wine Estates sales representative to arrange a visit.

BV’s signature seated experience unfolds inside the Georges de Latour Library: a five-course menu for $150 per person that’s built around the estate’s flagship bottlings. That includes the aforementioned Georges de Latour Private Reserve, which comprises fruit from four distinct sites. “BV Ranch 1 gives us chewy structure and makes a strong statement aromatically, often with a savory edge,” Weis said. “BV Ranch 2 contributes fleshy texture, richness, and a lot of lovely bright fruits. The alluvial soil of Hewitt Vineyard shows up in consistent graphite and mineral notes. Ranch 10 is the vineyard that surrounds our recently renovated . . . hospitality center, and this site serves as an educational vineyard for our Walk With the Maestro experience, so it adds not only to our wines but also to our storytelling.”

A sample menu recently included the Reserve Chardonnay with Petrale sole; the Reserve Pinot Noir with chicken roulade; the Malbec with duck-confit pasta; the Georges de Latour Private Reserve with Niman Ranch bavette steak; and a closing course of Muscat de Beaulieu with mochi cake, Silverado Trail strawberries, poached rhubarb, crème fraîche, and burnt honey caramel.

This story first appeared in the Tasting Panel September / October 2026 print edition (pages 62–65).