Gaylon Lawrence Jr isn't a name the rolls off the tongue of wine drinkers. Running a business built by his late father, this Arkansas-based agricultural tycoon owns Lawrence Wine Estates. Their holdings include Heitz Cellar, Stony Hill, Burgess and other wineries in Napa plus one in Bordeaux, France.
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| Founder Joe Heitz,might be rolling over in his grave photo from menzelphoto.com |
After buying the legendary Heitz Cellar from the original owners, he got rid of the complementary tastings, one of the few wineries left in Napa that gave free tastings. Fine, that's his prerogative. The base tasting went for over $100 and the high end one was a $1,000! That one got dropped as there were probably few takers. I suppose a billionaire doesn't see that as over-the-top.
Lawrence Wine Estates just announced a "wine club" that gives access to all of their holdings. Fine, Wilson Wineries in Sonoma lets members of any one of their wine clubs get the same benefits at his other dozen holdings.
Lawrence's is a bit different. It's called a Private Lifestyle Club. There's a name that oozes of money. All the buzzwords are in the press release, like "highly curated," "white glove concierge," "insider access," blah blah blah. It's going to be a "one-stop-shop for unforgettable cultural experiences!" (Exclamation point is mine).
What the heck happened to farming families growing grapes and making wine? Yeah, that's mostly gone from Napa though you can still find it, but it'll take some looking. I just hope this sort of thing never creeps over into Sonoma County.
BTW, there's a class-action lawsuit against Heitz Cellars for cheating workers out of pay. There is no settlement, so for now it's an allegation.
Press release from WineBusiness.com
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