Far Niente winery in Napa Valley buys 133-acre vineyard in Carneros region

Far Niente winery in Napa Valley has acquired a 133-acre vineyard in the Carneros region near San Pablo Bay.

The vineyard was formerly known as Gran Val vineyard and includes 60 acres of planted vines. Far Niente said it plans to plant 73 more acres in the spring of 2022.

The land will provide grapes for Far Niente’s chardonnay program, as well as for its sister wineries Nickel & Nickel, Bella Union and Post & Beam.

Winemaker promoted at Newton Vineyard in St. Helena

Andrew Holve was promoted to head of winemaking at Newton Vineyard in St. Helena.

A Sebastopol native, Holve had worked as associate winemaker for six years at the winery under two previous head winemakers to help his understanding the winery’s philosophy making mountain wine.

He holds a master’s degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis and has worked at other Sonoma County wineries, including MacRostie Winery and Ridge Vineyards and in New Zealand at Church Road Winery and Cloudy Bay.

Since 2001, Newton winery has been owned by French luxury provider LVMH.

Levendi Winery to open tasting room in Napa

Levendi Winery will open a tasting room on First Street near the Andaz Napa Hotel in downtown Napa later this summer.

The winery has secured a lease for 2,000 square feet of space for the tasting room.

Recently, Richard Brown became Levendi’s president. The winery was founded and operated by the Gianulias family and it has sourced grapes from local vineyards such as Stagecoach Vineyard in Atlas Peak.

Compiled by Bill Swindell. Submit items to bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com.