Vintner adds 128 Napa Valley acres to growing North Coast wine holdings

Just months after purchasing a Napa Valley winery known for its cabernet sauvignon, Brion Wise has added to his North Coast wine holdings with the purchase of 128 more acres one of the valley’s prime cab growing areas.

Wise, owner of Sonoma County’s B. Wise Vineyards and Amapola Creek Winery, acquired the Montagna estate at 141 Long Ranch Road on the eastern ridge of Napa Valley, the vintner announced Thursday. The property, now called Brion Estate, includes 42 planted vine acres and a 20,000-square-foot cave.

The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but it was listed at $55 million in 2019 and $27.5 million in 2014.

With Montagna property purchase, Wise now has full or partial stakes in about 2,000 acres of Napa Valley, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Brion was a petroleum company founder and longtime executive, before getting into the wine business with B. Wise in 2002. He purchased Napa Valley’s Mark Herold Wines in May.

“As a longtime collector of Pritchard Hill wines, I have long dreamed of building a marquee winery estate here,” said Wise in the deal announcement. “This site is home to some of the best vineyards in what is already a rarified subregion of Napa Valley, and its grapes are immensely important to what we have already begun to build with BRION. I’m so grateful to (previous owner) Bob Long and the legacy he and his family have built up here over the years. How honored we are to be the next stewards of this crown jewel of a property.”

Though not an official Napa Valley appellation, Pritchard Hill has been a prime location for growing cab grapes the county is known for. After Chappellet pioneered the area decades ago, vintners and suppliers for notable Napa wine brands Bryant Family, Colgin, Continuum, David Arthur and Ovid have secured vineyard acres there.

—

Update, Aug. 24, 2023: A previous version of this story referenced San Francisco Chronicle as the source of the story. Brion Wise’s organization has since announced details on the deal.