One of Napa’s most well-loved historic wineries has changed hands again. Stony Hill Vineyard, the rare major Napa winery known for its white wine instead of red, is now owned by Arkansas billionaire Gaylon Lawrence Jr. and Carlton McCoy, Jr. — just two years after Stony Hill’s original family owners sold it to another local family.
The small production Spring Mountain winery’s change brings along with it an esteemed winemaker, Jaimee Motley. Motley, who made her name at Pax Wine Cellars and was a 2018 Winemaker to Watch for her own label, will be overseeing wine production at Stony Hill. Laurie Taboulet will be estate director.
A selling price was not disclosed.
Lawrence is an Arkansas agriculture magnate who’s also been building an empire in Wine Country; he first started buying land in Napa in 2018 with the acquisition of storied Cabernet Sauvignon producer Heitz Cellar. He’s since bought several other wineries with rich history: Wildwood Vineyard in Rutherford, Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville and Burgess Cellars on Howell Mountain, where the 1880s stone winery burned this year. McCoy, who is also a master sommelier, is the CEO.
Then last summer, Lawrence bought the Wildwood Vineyard in Rutherford, which was the source of some of Spring Mountain Vineyard’s great Cabs in the 1970s. And this week, Lawrence closed on the Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville, regarded by some as the source of Napa Valley’s best Chardonnay. (Purchase prices were not disclosed for the three transactions.)
Stony Hill is an old-school Chardonnay producer that was founded in 1952 by Fred and Eleanor McCrea. That family owned it until 2018, when Long Meadow Ranch took a majority stake in it. At the time, the McCrea family said it was primarily so that the vineyard could afford to offer its employees more benefits and to make infrastructure updates.
Though Chardonnay is a signature of California winemaking now, it wasn’t common when the McCreas planted it at Stony Hill in 1947. Since then, the winery has largely remained committed to its original style, even when more buttery versions of Chardonnay became vogue. The Chronicle’s wine critic Esther Mobley also admires its other white wines, including Riesling and Gewurztraminer, calling them “unique, soulful and long-lived.”
Motley is a young star of the California winemaking world and has used lesser-known grapes like the rustic red Mondeuse. Her style, though, leans towards classic. In a statement, she said that she first visited the winery in 2011 and appreciates how the property can “present us a looking glass into the history of California terroir and the future of transparent winegrowing.”
“I look forward to maintaining a deep reverence with the land, honoring the past, and embracing the future of Stony Hill,” she said.
Stony Hill is closing for the foreseeable future in light of the sale, including web sales, according to its website.
Stony Hill Vineyard, 3331 Saint Helena Highway North, St. Helena
Serena Dai is a San Francisco Chronicle senior editor. Email: serena.dai@sfchronicle.com
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Historic Napa winery Stony Hill sold to Arkansas billionaire, with a star winemaker taking the helm - San Francisco Chronicle
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