Araujo Winery Acquisition Ups French Stake

(Wines&Vines) - Araujo Estate Wines, the cult producer of wines from Eisele Vineyard in Napa Valley, has been acquired by France’s Pinault family through its holding company the Artémis Group, parent company of Château Latour in Bordeaux, Domaine d’Eugénie in Burgundy and Château Grillet in the Rhône Valley.

The purchase includes the 38-acre Biodynamic and organically farmed Eisele Vineyard, the winery and cave complex, the Araujo Estate brand and existing inventory. The purchase price was not disclosed but is estimated by informed sources to be worth more than $100 million. The most recent comparable deal might be the $40 million a Chinese executive paid in late 2011 for the 600-case Sloan winery and vineyard that included 12 acres of hillside vineyards but not the brand. Those wines typically sell for $600 per bottle.

Robert Nicholson, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the wine business at his International Wine Associates, recently handled the large sale of Mayacamas Vineyards to a former owner of Screaming Eagle, one of the most expensive Napa wines. “Very few transactions of this magnitude occur,” Nicholson said. “It validates the efforts of Napa Valley vintners to produce world-class wines, but don’t expect a rush of other such deals.”