The fire-scarred Fairwinds Estate Winery property at 4550 Silverado Trail in Calistoga has sold for an estimated $12.8 million, and its new owners are turning the site into a private, members-only grape-growing estate called The Calistoga Club. A deed recorded August 25 with the Napa County Recorder’s Office shows Fairwinds Estate Winery LLC sold the property to Calistoga Farms LLC, with documentary transfer tax on the sale totaling $14,128.40.
The sale, first reported by The Napa Valley Register, puts the price at about $12.84 million per the deed. The buyer, Calistoga Farms LLC, is managed by Michael Kennedy, a vintner and sommelier who founded St. Louis-based Fraîche Wine Group in 2018 and previously worked as a sommelier for Ritz-Carlton hotels, including a stint at Blue by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman. Notably, the Calistoga Farms investment group did not purchase the Fairwinds brand itself — only the underlying real estate and its permits.
A Permit Older Than Modern Napa Rules
What makes the property valuable isn’t just its dirt or its caves — it’s the paperwork. Fairwinds Estate Winery opened before Napa County’s 1990 Winery Definition Ordinance, meaning it carries a grandfathered permit allowing higher production and visitation levels than many newer wineries can obtain, according to Kennedy. That 1990 ordinance was designed to preserve agricultural land by restricting non-agricultural uses and limiting high-volume tourism, as detailed by Comstock’s Magazine, which means any site that predates it holds commercial leverage that can’t be replicated under today’s rules.
Kennedy said the ownership group values the property’s rare winery permit as central to the plan. “We think Napa is going to do well and get through this tough period for the wine industry,” Kennedy said, according to the deed’s associated reporting. He added that the group hopes to build “something of Calistoga” and plans to rebuild “a beautiful and special place for making great wine.”
From Cuvaison to Fairwinds to the Glass Fire
The property has a long winemaking history. Before it was Fairwinds, the site served for decades as the original winemaking facility and tasting room for Cuvaison Estate Wines, which operated there as both an estate winery and custom-crush facility, according to The Napa Wine Project. Brandon Chaney and Anthony Zabit purchased the former Cuvaison property in 2015 and renamed it Fairwinds Estate Winery after Cuvaison consolidated its operations in Carneros…