Bella Oaks owners by JH Wheeler from the Araujo Family

WINE TALK
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Pretty big news!

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wow, congrats to all around!

Cant wait to see @Shaekinsman and Nigel take all of these wines to another level.

I havent bit the bullet yet on their Bella Oaks wines, but those Kinsman Eades offerings are top top Napa shelf for sure…

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Kinda confused by “take all of these wines to another level”, Nigel and Shae are already making the wines and managing several of these labels (including Wheeler)?
Interestingly, just picked up my J.H. Wheeler wine a week ago and the staffing were very positive on the Araujo family’s vision and how positive the future looked. Really enjoy their staff and hope the feeling continues on with new ownership.

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Excellent point!

I wonder if a line up change is coming for the Wheeler wines? I doubt a style change is coming.

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To your point…the lineup had already been changing constantly under the Araujo leadership. The majority would appear to have a close correlation with most of Nigel’s relationships. For example, the 2021 Cabernet bottlings picked up within the last 12 months have been 1880 Georges III, Beckstoffer Georges III, Diamond Mountain, Missouri Hopper, Sleeping Lady, Franz Hill Vineyard, Vine Hill Ranch, and a Merlot bottling from Ecotone (which my wife and I absolutely enjoyed).

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Wondering if the wine from the Wheeler property becomes more of a single vineyard wine?

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yeah youre right, my comment didnt make much sense.

Nigel already has full control of the winemaking so not much will change (hopefully).

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Don’t beat yourself up :wink:

I do wonder if there would be a line up change. Part of me is wondering if JH Wheeler becomes a single vineyard wine with a more rigorous selection (as opposed to several estate wines)?

That could be the one change I could see. Similar to Larkmead paring down their portfolio.

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Based on what they actually produce under their own names, this does seem to be a philosophical difference between Nigel/Shae and Bart with regard to blending vs. single vineyard.

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Agreed, which led to my guess about changing the line up.