Araujo Estate

Araujo Estate is a Napa Valley estate particularly associated with its noted Eisele vineyard and the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon grown there. It is regarded as one of California's cult wineries and was included in Robert Parker's 2005 book, "The World's Greatest Wine Estates".

The 38-acre (15-hectare) Eisele vineyard is located on an old alluvial fan near the northern end of the Napa Valley, just east of Calistoga. It is protected by the Palisades Mountain to the north and cooled by westerly breezes, and produces a low-yielding crop of very concentrated fruit.

Araujo's winery is a barn-type construction on the vineyard, with cellars built into the hillside. Grapes are sorted and transferred without pumping to stainless steel or concrete fermenters. Individual lots are aged in French oak barrels before the final blends are assembled. Araujo produces four wines regularly: the Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon; the Altagracia Bordeaux blend that also contains fruit from other Napa Valley vineyards: as well as small volumes of Eisele Vineyard Syrah; as well as a Sauvignon Blanc. In some years, Araujo also produces an Eisele Vineyard Viognier.

The estate was founded in 1990, when Bart and Daphne Araujo bought the Eisele vineyard, which already had a strong reputation for its Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The company has been owned by the Pinault family's Groupe Artemis since 2013. Other Pinault/Artemis vineyards include Château Latour in Bordeaux, Clos de Tart and Domaine d'Eugénie (formerly Domaine René Engel) in Burgundy, and Château-Grillet in Condrieu (in France's northern Rhône Valley).