After three generations of family ownership, Heitz Cellars, a winery based in St. Helena in California’s Napa Valley, has been sold to billionaire investor, Gaylon M. Lawrence, Jr., the Napa Valley Register reports.
Included in the sale are the Heitz winery and trademark, as well as its more than 1,000 acres of Napa Valley land, the Register reports.
Also noted in the announcement, the purchase is buyer, Lawrence’s “first foray into the wine industry and vineyard ownership.” However, the Lawrence family owns land in the South and Midwest, owns one of the largest citrus grove management operations in Florida, and owns several banks, as well as a stake in an HVAC distributorship.
Heitz Cellars, founded in 1961 by Joe and Alice Heitz, was most recently owned and operated by their daughter, Kathleen Heitz Myers, as president and CEO; and son, David Heitz as winemaker.
Replacing Heitz Meyers as president and CEO is Robert Boyd, whose was previously president of Joseph Phelps Vineyard, another family-owned winery in Napa.
Photo: Kathleen Heitz Meyers, Heitz Cellars immediate past president and CEO.
