Latest releases from Chateau Latour's Napa sibling 

'Araujo's 2011s are stellar' - Antonio Galloni

Bart and Daphne Araujo bought this already long-established estate from the eponymous Eisele family in 1990, and almost immediately began extensive replanting and other improvements. Abandoning their construction business, they devoted themselves entirely to this extraordinary site. In 2013 they received an offer they couldn't refuse from Artemis, the owner of Chateau Latour, and the couple left the estate finally earlier this year. They are off to another tiny bit of California for the next chapter of their lives.

Wines from here have been keenly sought-after for many decades. The estate was originally planted to vines in the 1880s. Organic farming began in 1998 and they converted to biodynamic viticulture with full certification in 2002, by which time this extraordinary vineyard already had a massive reputation. Ridge made a classic from its fruit; Phelps' best Cabernet was Eisele vineyard for a few years.

The Eisele vineyard - one of the undisputed jewels of Napa's considerable crown - has a unique position at the confluence of two ancient river beds, where two soil types and an abundance of different mineral elements combine with the shelter of the Palisades mountains and the cooling of the winds through the Chalk Hill Gap. 2011 was a vintage that allowed all of the finest aspects of the site to shine. Unhindered by heatspikes, this vintage, harvested at the end of October, enjoyed a long and slow ripening season and its position protected it from some of the conditions that adversely affected less favoured sites. /CW

Offered subject to remaining unsold; latest releases available 2015; Sauvignon Blancs available now