Beaulieu Vineyards

Napa Valley’s Historic Beaulieu Vineyard Increases Quality Cues In Packaging

Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) announces a complete label upgrade in 2017, the first in an ambitious plan of reinvestments in the winery and the brand. The winery will debut new label designs for several of the winery’s tiers, including Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve, its Napa Valley collection, and Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Following the redesign of the Beaulieu Georges de Latour label in September 2016, new labels for the winery’s popular Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot will coincide with the release of the 2014 vintage in February, followed by the Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon later this year.

Additional investment and support behind Beaulieu Vineyard’s new look includes a national advertising campaign, the introduction of new point-of-sale and luxury sales tools, new case shippers, a new website that will launch later this month and investments in the winemaking and production facility further down the road.

Since its founding in 1900, Beaulieu continues to be celebrated for having some of the very best vineyards in Napa Valley, including the prized BV No. 1 and BV No. 2 ranches, located on the Rutherford Bench, recognized for being among the best terroir in California. The new label design retains key historic design elements for which Beaulieu Vineyard has long been recognized, such as its iconic BV logo, while featuring an upgraded, more contemporary look to enhance standout on shelves and better communicate the winery’s history, legacy and authenticity as a Napa Valley “Grand Cru” producer dating back to 1900. The winery’s iconic BV logo in block lettering will for the first time hover over a newly-added BV silhouette in larger typeface. An elongated, brighter white label pays tribute to the classic, elegant design of the historic labels which adorned bottles released during the many decades of Beaulieu Vineyard’s legacy of Napa Valley winemaking under the leadership of legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff.

Of the new packaging, Seth Hynes, Vice President of Marketing for Beaulieu Vineyard, offers, “Beaulieu Vineyard’s new labels feature more premium cues, increasing consumer perception that they are purchasing the perfect wine for special occasions and fine dining.” Hynes continues, “Beaulieu Vineyard’s rich heritage upholds its commitment to rarefied values – in winemaking practices as well as at the table. The winery’s evolved packaging communicates these values, and an unbroken commitment to craftsmanship and stolid leadership with consumers.” Treasury Wine Estates envisions the packaging update will enhance the consumer experience, particularly in fine dining and hospitality establishments, where the brand enjoys loyalty and strong performance.

Despite a legacy spanning over 115 years, Beaulieu Vineyard’s cellars have been overseen by only four directors of winemaking, with Jeffrey Stambor currently continuing its longstanding philosophy of producing the finest quality wines from the Napa Valley. Stambor began his career at Beaulieu Vineyard in 1989 as viticulturist/enologist, combining a deep understanding of viticulture with intuitive winemaking and had the unique opportunity to work directly with legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff. Today, Jeffrey continues that legacy celebrating his 28th year at Beaulieu Vineyard.

Since 1900, Beaulieu Vineyard has set the standard for California wines that stand among the world’s finest. Beaulieu’s rich history and storied vineyards offer the visitor a unique opportunity to experience the finest of Napa Valley.

About Beaulieu Vineyard

Established in 1900, Beaulieu Vineyard is one of the most historic Napa Valley wineries, setting the standard for quality and innovation in Napa Valley winemaking. Today, Beaulieu Vineyard holds a unique place in the history of California wineries and is one of the most collected American Cabernets. For additional information, please visit www.bvwines.com.

In 1900, when Georges de Latour's wife, Fernande, first laid eyes on the land that would become their original Rutherford vineyard, she named it "beau lieu," or "beautiful place." Shortly thereafter, de Latour sold his thriving cream of tartar business, bought the four-acre ranch and founded Beaulieu Vineyard with the vision of making Napa Valley wines that would rival those of his native France.

De Latour quickly made a name for himself by importing Phylloxera-resistant rootstock from Europe to the recently-ravaged fledgling California wine industry. He also began selling wine to the Catholic Church, establishing a strong relationship that would allow Beaulieu Vineyard to become the only Napa Valley winery to remain in business during Prohibition.

In fact, during Prohibition the winery increased its business. After the repeal in 1933, de Latour began searching for someone who could contribute European winemaking expertise. In 1938, he traveled to France and returned with André Tchelistcheff, famed viticulturist and enologist who instituted the philosophy of continuous innovation in vineyard and winery to which we remain dedicated today. Tchelistcheff introduced cold fermentation for white wines, malolactic fermentation for reds and aging red wines in small, French oak barrels. He also tasted the de Latour family's private wine-what they called "Private Reserve"-from the 1936 vintage. This Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine was so distinctive that Tchelistcheff insisted it be bottled and sold as the winery's flagship offering. The result was the inaugural release of Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that was destined to become Napa Valley's first "cult" Cabernet.

Today we continue to turn to innovative practices to craft wines in our bold, classic style. We have become a leader in clonal research, and our BV Clone Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon wines are highly acclaimed. Most recently we completed a new state-of-the-art winery within one of our original buildings. The Georges de Latour Private Reserve Winery utilizes the latest technology in combination with time-honored traditions for the production of this exceptional, wine-the longtime benchmark of Rutherford Cabernet.

With more than 1,100 acres of estate vineyards and long-term relationships with our grower partners, we source wines from premier spots in Napa Valley and throughout California's coastal winegrowing regions. Beaulieu Vineyard invites you for an elegant wine tour and wine tastings in the heart of wine country Napa.

BV has a heritage of growing grapes on some of the best sites in Napa Valley. Beginning in 1904, with his first vineyard purchase in Rutherford - known today as BV Ranch #1, Georges de Latour propelled this wine growing region onto the world stage. From BV9 in Carneros to BV12 in Calistoga, long term knowledge of each vineyard is coupled with extensive research on clones, trellising styles, and viticultural techniques. The results are finely tuned growing practices for each location that produce the absolute highest quality grapes.

The new Georges de Latour Private Reserve Winery is a winery-within-a-winery, completely housed in one of the buildings on our historic Rutherford estate. The winery is entirely self-contained, giving us 100% control of the quality that shapes the expression of each vintage.

The new winery design features gentle hourly automatic pumpovers that last only five minutes each. This new system maximizes extraction of color, flavors and tannins. Winemaker Jeffrey Stambor will choose from between three fermentation options—20 2,000 gallon stainless steel tanks, for bright fruit character; five 1,600-gallon French oak tanks for seamless integration of tannins; and more than 400 new, 60-gallon French oak barrels for rich complexity. These barrels are mounted on racks that allow them to rotate for exceedingly gentle cap management. Whichever method is chosen, fermentation for each small lot is long and slow—up to 60 days—to ensure the full development of varietal character.

After Jeffrey determines the blend that best displays our Rutherford terroir, the Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon will age in 750 new French oak barrels for even greater depth of expression.

Trevor Durling, Chief Winemaker

Trevor grew up in Sonoma County, at the heart of Northern California’s wine country, where wine was a staple at his family dinner table.

Following high school, Trevor’s intention was to join the ROTC program at the University of California, Davis, and become an officer in the US Air Force, as his grandfather, a 37-year air force veteran, had done. After a brief time as an undergraduate at Davis, however, he enrolled in an introduction to winemaking class and was immediately enamored.

Trevor realized that winemaking united his love of agriculture, science, and cuisine, and transferred to the UC Viticulture and Enology program. After a harvest internship at the Russian River Valley’s Sonoma-Cutrer winery in 2003, Trevor worked two consecutive seasons for Gloria Ferrer winery’s sparkling wine harvests. In late 2005, Trevor joined Moon Mountain Vineyard, a small, well-regarded organic vineyard in Sonoma Valley.

In March of 2010, Trevor joined Provenance Vineyards and Hewitt Vineyard as assistant winemaker, where his first contributions were integral to Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 earning Wine Spectator’s 2013 #4 Wine of the Year.

In early 2015, Trevor succeeded founding winemaker Tom Rinaldi and previous winemaker Chris Cooney in his appointment to lead winemaker. Trevor worked hand-in-hand with Tom and Chris, crafting highly regarded wines that continued a rich winemaking legacy until June 2017, when he took the mantel of chief winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyard.

At Beaulieu Vineyard, Trevor presides as only the fifth chief winemaker in the winery’s 120-year history, following esteemed previous chief winemaker Jeffrey Stambor. Respectful of and humbled by Beaulieu Vineyard’s storied history, Trevor joins the winemaking team keenly aware of his role shaping the winery’s future.

In addition to his career as a full-time winemaker, Trevor currently serves as an informal ambassador for California wine country to Travis Air Force Base, where he educates service members on Napa and Sonoma wine news.

He is an active board member of the Rutherford Dust Society, which produces and supports charity events in the community including Auction Napa Valley, a four-day charity wine event sponsored by Napa Valley Vintners that distributes proceeds to 25 local and strategic initiatives to aid community health and children’s education.

In his free time, Trevor is an avid golfer, snowboarder, enthusiastic fan of the San Francisco Giants, and has a passion for music, playing piano, trumpet and guitar. He also loves to barbeque, cook at home and explore wines of the world.