{"id":271252,"date":"2025-06-03T21:10:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T21:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/araujo-family-sells-accendo-winery\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T21:10:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T21:10:45","slug":"araujo-family-sells-accendo-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=271252","title":{"rendered":"Araujo Family Sells Accendo Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Siblings Greg and Jaime Araujo have sold their family\u2019s Accendo<\/a> brand to a group formed by vintner Jack Bittner and the Bettinelli family. The sale includes the brand and current inventory, but no vineyards. The purchase price was not disclosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccendo has always been about the growers,\u201d said Jaime Araujo, who will now focus on her Trois Noix<\/a> brand and is also currently chairing the Napa Valley Vintners board. \u201cFor me it\u2019s a logical progression for the brand to put it in the hands of the best growers in the valley. We\u2019re all friends and Greg and I want to see them thrive with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Post-Eisele Project<\/h2>\n

Accendo was created<\/a> after Greg and Jaime\u2019s parents, Bart and Daphne Araujo, sold the Araujo brand and Eisele vineyard<\/a> in 2013. Shifting his focus from a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon<\/a> grown in Calistoga, Araujo envisioned Accendo as an homage to the classic,<\/b>\u00a0age-worthy, blended Cabernets of the 1970s, but with\u00a0an Oakville signature.<\/p>\n

With winemaker Nigel Kinsman<\/a> overseeing production, Accendo\u2019s flagship Cabernet Sauvignon set an impressive track record, earning seven classic ratings of 95 points or better<\/a> in the nine vintages from its debut 2014 through the 2022. The 2023 and 2024 vintages of the wine have not yet been released. In 2024, Bart sold the Accendo brand to Greg and Jaime as part of the Wheeler Farms sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Access To A Unique Vineyard Portfolio<\/h2>\n

Accendo currently produces approximately 900 cases each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc annually. There are no plans to increase that production initially. Kinsman will stay on as winemaker, with production to continue in the Wheeler Farms facility now owned by Suzanne Deal Booth.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst rule, do no harm,\u201d Bittner told Wine Spectator<\/em>. \u201cWe want to get to know the Accendo customer and respect the brand. This is something that came about in part because there are long relationships between the Araujos, Bettinellis and myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bittner, 55, is a former partner in Ovid; he divested from that winery\u00a0two years ago. He is currently managing partner of the 20-acre Ecotone vineyard, which sits above St. Helena and just below the Howell Mountain AVA. Formerly known as Thorevilos, it had been farmed by David Abreu under a long-term lease. When that ended in 2019, Bittner turned the farming over to the Bettinelli family.<\/p>\n

The family currently owns 350 acres of vines in Napa Valley and farms approximately 600 additional acres, making them one of the larger\u00a0growers of premium grapes\u00a0in the valley. The family-owned business is currently managed by fifth-generation Giancarlo Bettinelli, 44, and his brother-in-law, Paul Goldberg, 42.<\/p>\n

With the Bettinelli family involved in the purchase, there is notable continuity undergirding the sale. \u201cWe delivered fruit from Sleeping Lady [Vineyard] to Accendo starting in 2014,\u201d says Bettinelli. \u201cSo it seemed like a good fit to be the stewards for the brand going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The new Accendo owners explore one of the soil pits they are using to learn about the Mitchell Vineyard.<\/span> (Rob Watermeyer) <\/span><\/p>\n

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In addition to Sleeping Lady and Ecotone, the Bettinellis have been farming the majority of fruit sources for Accendo over the years, including their own Upper Range vineyard, a 120-acre site that straddles the Rutherford and Napa Valley AVAs. Over the years, Accendo has sourced fruit from a shifting cast of some of Napa Valley\u2019s top vineyards for its blend, including Vine Hill Ranch, Oakville Ranch and M-Bar Ranch. Some, such as Vine Hill Ranch, located in Oakville and owned by Bruce and Heather Phillips, as well as M-Bar, will not be continuing. The new Accendo ownership plans to replace those fruit sources with some of their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some pieces, such as the Mast vineyard in Yountville, that we think make sense. And any new fruit that comes in won\u2019t be more than the fruit we\u2019re losing, so the production level will be maintained,\u201d says Bettinelli. \u201cThen we have some other pieces from newer sites that we can experiment with and get to know first.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those new sites is the Mitchell vineyard, located in Yountville, which is going to be used as the new home for an Accendo estate. The vineyard is located on the former Hoffman Ranch. A rare benchland site on the western edge of the Yountville AVA, it\u2019s where Giancarlo Bettinelli grew up. Now under a long-term lease started in 2021, the Bettinellis have planted 15 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with the 2025 to be the first harvest off the estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t a lot of spots in Napa where there\u2019s unrealized potential,\u201d says Bettinelli. \u201cNigel will get to play with the fruit, keeping all the blocks separate because of the varying soil types on the property, and he\u2019ll let us know what works from there. We\u2019re very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator<\/i>\u2019s free Breaking News Alerts<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n