eisele estate
Eisele Vineyard, at the heart of the estate.
(Image credit: Eisele Vineyard Estate)

Château Latour owner Francois Pinault has re-named his company's Araujo Estate in California three years after buying it.

Araujo Estate has been re-named Eisele Vineyard Estate, announced Frederic Engerer, president of François Pinault’s holding company, Artemis Domaines.

The name Eisele comes from former owners Milton and Barbara Eisele, who bought the property in 1969, and has been the designated name of various Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings from this vineyard for over 40 vintages of wines produced by Joseph Phelps, Conn Creek and Ridge.

The name Eisele continued to be used by Bart and Daphne Araujo during their ownership from 1990 to 2013, when they bottled all wine produced on the estate themselves.

The vineyard itself dates back to 1884.

‘Putting forward the name of the vineyard is a way of embracing the history of this land,’ said general manager Antoine Donnedieu de Vabres. ‘It recognises that it is Eisele Vineyard, not us, at the very heart of our wines.’

Decanter.com understands that the Araujo brand is still owned by Artemis.

Bart and Daphne Araujo are owners of Accendo Cellars and have just released the first vintage, 2014, of their Sauvignon Blanc.

Under the terms of the sales contract they left the brand names of Araujo Estate and Altagracia with Artemis, but have the possibility of reclaiming it after a certain period of time if unused.

Bart Araujo confirmed that currently they are able to use their surname Araujo in promotional material and on Accendo’s back label, but not the front.

The name Eisele Vineyard Estate will be used from the 2013 vintage for the Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

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Jane Anson
Jane Anson

Jane Anson was Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent until 2021 and has lived in the region since 2003. She writes a monthly wine column for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, and is the author of Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines (also published in French as Elixirs). In addition, she has contributed to the Michelin guide to the Wine Regions of France and was the Bordeaux and Southwest France author of The Wine Opus and 1000 Great Wines That Won’t Cost a Fortune. An accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux École du Vin, Anson holds a masters in publishing from University College London, and a tasting diploma from the Bordeaux faculty of oenology.

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