Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator's free Breaking News Alerts. "Hopefully is the first of many," he said. We're looking at a long-term family involvement."īoyd explained that the Lawrence family had been looking to get involved in the wine business for some time. Boyd said that the goal is not to change, increase production or grow the business. Gaylon Lawrence's daughter Westin lives in Napa and will become involved in the business. "We are looking forward to making more vintages of Heitz Martha’s in the future and have no plans to change our goal of producing the highest quality organic Cabernet Sauvignon grapes possible."īoyd added that the fact this is a family-to-family transaction will make it easier to keep the original focus in place. "The May family is excited about working with the Lawrence family," Laura May Everett, whose family owns Martha's Vineyard, told Wine Spectator. "There are no plans to make stylistic changes." They hope to maintain current contracts with vineyards, including Martha's Vineyard. "There's no desire to change what we're doing from a winemaking perspective," Boyd told Wine Spectator. Boyd says that bottlings, vineyard sources, the current 40,000-case production and the winemaking team-minus David Heitz, who will be stepping aside-are expected to remain in place. Lawrence has appointed wine industry veteran Robert Boyd, who has previously worked with Kendall-Jackson and Joseph Phelps Vineyards, as the new president and CEO of Heitz. By that point his children had taken over operations, David Heitz as winemaker and Kathleen Heitz-Meyers as chief operating officer. He worked for Gallo and Beaulieu Vineyard in Napa Valley under André Tchelistcheff before starting his own brand. Joe Heitz founded Heitz Cellars in 1961 a native of Princeton, Ill., he came to California in the 1940s while serving in the Army Air Corps. The Lawrences are based in Memphis, Tenn. The family also owns dozens of local banks, and hold a stake in one of the country's largest privately owned heating, ventilation and air-conditioning distributors. Helena, Calif., on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. His family owns farmland in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida, where they own one of the state's largest citrus grove operations. 1 of 6 From left, David Heitz, his sister Kathleen Heitz Myers, Eric White, Harrison Heitz, and Brittany Dibb at Heitz Cellar in St. Lawrence is new to the world of wine, but not agriculture.
In the wine business we are all farmers, and with the Lawrence family's history in agriculture, we feel Heitz Cellars will be in good hands." "When we met with Gaylon, it seemed a perfect match. "We feel this is the right time for us to pass this rich legacy to another family," said Kathleen Heitz-Myers. The sale includes more than 400 acres of vineyards. In April 2018 Heitz acquired the 54-acre Wildwood Vineyard in Rutherford for a reported US$25 million from Sterling Vineyards, which was owned by Treasury Wine Estates, followed by the historic Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville in October 2019.The owners of Heitz Cellars, one of the dominant producers in Napa Valley during its formative years, a champion of single-vineyard expressions and creator of one of Napa's most distinctive and collectible wines, the Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard, have sold the winery to Gaylon Lawrence Jr. Between 1946-71, the vineyards were the site for one of Napa’s pioneering wine brands, Souverain, although the winery itself was founded by Tom Burgess who bought the property in 1972 and passed it to his sons in 2012. “We’re just the new owners.”īurgess Cellars, which produces around 12,000 cases a year from its 30-year old, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon vines, was originally planted with vines in the 1870’s although it has seen several changes of ownership and replantings during its long history. “We are buying a historically significant brand, and a site that has a pedigree for creating exceptional wines,” he said. McCoy said an important factor in the deal was that Burgess Cellars would be keping ts identity. The new owners have appointed Meghan Zobeck, who has worked as assistant winemaker at Atelier Melka since 2015 following stints at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Screaming Eagle, will head up the winemaking team at Burgess, taking over from outgoing Kelly Woods. The deal includes the Burgess Cellar brand, winey, tasting room and 26acre estate. Lawrence, who acquired St Helena-based Heitz in April 2018 for a rumoured US$180 million has bought Burgess Cellar in Howell Mountain alongside Heitz CEO Carlton McCoy Jr.
The owner of Napa’s Heitz Cellar has boosted his Californian foothold with the acquisition of Californian winery Burgess Cellars for an undisclosed sum.Īrkansas banking billionaire Gaylon M.
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