Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) has announced that Nate Weis will assume the role of general manager and head winemaker. Weiss replaces Trevor Durling, who left last year for the winemaking job at Darioush. Weiss worked previously at Silver Oak. Located in Rutherford, BV is one of Napa Valley’s most historic wineries.
“And it’s a history I actually know well,” said Weis, who also teaches classes on Napa Valley wine history at Napa Valley College. “From Georges de Latour showing up to his bringing in André Tchelistcheff. It’s a great history, and I’m very excited to be a part of it going forward.”
Weis, 46, was only the third winemaker in Silver Oak’s history. He had made the wines since the 2014 vintage, overseeing production of over 100,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon annually and an expanding vineyard base. That experience should help Weis, as he will now have to handle about the same production level at BV, spread over nearly two dozen bottlings. Three-quarters of the production is Cabernet Sauvignon.
BV’s flagship Georges de Latour bottling and its Cabernet portfolio in general had taken several qualitative strides forward under Durling’s tenure, which ran from the 2017 through 2023 vintages. The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Georges de Latour Private Reserve (95 points, $170) earned the No. 2 spot in Wine Spectator’s annual Top 100 in 2024, while the winery’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Reserve (92, $33) bottling earned Wine Spectator’s Wine Value of the Year in 2022. The winery currently owns approximately 400 acres of vineyard in the Rutherford appellation.
“I tasted some of Trevor’s wines along the way and was impressed,” said Weis. “I think any winemaker would say that there’s always a chance for continuous improvement and incremental changes, but humility is also a very important part of winemaking, and respecting a style is important. BV certainly has its style.”
Weis will be getting the benefit of an upgraded facility, as BV owner Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) is currently renovating the Beaulieu winery located on Highway 29. Built in 1885, the original Fred Ewer winery was purchased by BV in 1923 and has now seen over 100 vintages of BV production move through it under the hands of a list of respected winemakers like André Tchelistcheff and Joel Aiken. A multimillion-dollar renovation that includes numerous changes to the original structure is now underway. TWE acquired BV winery in 2016.
Weis comes from a winemaking family. His father, Michael, was winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery and Vichon, before eventually carving out a 23-year run at Groth in Oakville. “And my dad, when I told him I was exploring this opportunity, said if you get a chance to taste the ’68 from BV, it’s life changing,” said Weis.
