Initially a purchase of of land in 1900, Beaulieu Vineyard derives its name from the
French phrase "
Quel beau lieu" which translates to
English as "
What a beautiful place". Legend has it that Fernande uttered these words when she first saw the land. The following year, they purchased a nearby
winery originally built by California State Senator Seneca Ewer in 1885. De Latour's knowledge about
phylloxera which had ravaged many
Napa Valley vineyard, and his decision to import a
rootstock variety resistant to the pest helped secure his stature as one of the early pioneers of California's wine industry. The demand for such wine increased dramatically during the years of Prohibition and the winery repeatedly expanded. By the
Repeal of Prohibition in 1933, production had grown to over per year. Following Repeal, Beaulieu hired
Andre Tchelistcheff from
France as winemaker and the quality of its wines increased significantly. Tchelistcheff provided significant contributions to the techniques of cold fermentation, vineyard frost protection,
malolactic fermentation, and the development of winemaking regions in
Carneros, California,
Oregon and
Washington. He also became a mentor to other important winemakers such as
Mike Grgich, whose
Chateau Montelena Chardonnay won the
Judgment of Paris, Joe Heitz of
Heitz Wine Cellars, and
Robert Mondavi. By the 1940s, Beaulieu wines were served at all major
White House functions. In the mid-1940s, Beaulieu was owned by Marquis de Pins, whose wife was a member of the French wine-making de Latour family. This was noted in
Life Magazine in an article on the debut ball at which their daughter was a debutante. In the 1950s and 1960s Beaulieu was considered one of the "big four" Napa Valley producers, along with
Inglenook, also in Rutherford,
Charles Krug, and
Louis Martini. In the Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981, the 1970 vintage of Beaulieu Vineyard George de Latour Private Reserve
Cabernet Sauvignon received second place. The winery was purchased by international
conglomerate Heublein Inc., in 1969. Heublein was later acquired by
RJR Nabisco, then sold to Grand Metropolitan in 1987. Grand Metropolitan became
Diageo plc in 1997 through a merger with
Guinness, and is now the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world. In 2016 Diageo sold Beaulieu Vineyard to
Treasury Wine Estates. ==References==