Napa’s Lewis Cellars bought by company that also owns Kenwood’s Landmark Vineyards

The company that owns Landmark Vineyards in Kenwood has bought Napa's Lewis Cellars to grow its premium wine portfolio.

Justin Vineyards & Winery of Paso Robles announced Wednesday that it bought Lewis Cellars from founder Randy Lewis, who for almost 30 years has garnered awards for his luxury cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah and white varietals. Lewis and president Dennis Bell will stay on with leadership at the winery.

Justin also owns Landmark Vineyards and in 2016 bought the historic Hop Kiln winery on Westside Road, which was later turned it into part of the Landmark portfolio. Justin is part of The Wondferul Co., controlled by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, whose $5 billion company owns Fiji Water and Pom Wonderful juice.

“Lewis Cellars has a rich history, superior quality, and a pedigree that made it the perfect winery to help us expand into the Napa Valley region,” said Clarence Chia, senior vice president of marketing of Justin, in a statement.

New winemaker at Simi Winery

Rebecca Valls has joined Simi Winery as a winemaker.

Valls came to Simi, which is owned by Constellation Brands Inc., in June and is part of a team with Lisa Evich as senior winemaker. The winery was first established in 1876.

She previously worked for Clos du Bois as assistant winemaker where she was responsible for all the winemaking activities at the Geyserville winery that was purchased from Constellation earlier this year by E. & J. Gallo.

Valls also previously held positions at Duckhorn Wine Co. and Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Sonoma State University and a winemaking certificate from UC Davis.

New luxury winemaker hired at Trinchero

Aimee Baker has joined Trinchero Family Estates of St. Helena as director of luxury winemaking. She was previously Opus One's associate winemaker.

Baker will oversee such brands as Neyers Vineyards, Bravium, Ziata, Trinchero Napa Valley and Mason Cellars from the company’s Winemakers' Studio, which was built in 2017 for such high-price labels. Trinchero is the fourth largest wine company in the United States.

Before entering into the wine sector, Baker served as head women's rowing coach at UC Santa Barbara and later Stanford University. She worked for five years as the winemaker for Picchetti Winery in the Santa Cruz mountains before joining Opus One.

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