Former Napa Valley site of Charles Shaw Winery up for sale

A Napa Valley property that once housed the famed Charles Shaw Winery has hit the market.

The St. Helena estate sitting on more than 42 acres at 1010 Big Tree Road is listed at $35 million. It boasts a main residence and guest residence with a combined living space of 6,300 square feet, including eight bedrooms and nine baths. The property also features covered patios and walkway connecting the residences, a garage, nearly 30 acres of vineyards and access to the Napa River.

Listed on Nov. 5 by Jamie Spratling and Kevin McDonald of Sotheby’s International Realty, the estate is “one of the original wine properties” in Napa Valley, said McDonald Friday.

Originally a cattle ranch and dairy farm in the 1920s and ‘30s, the estate was converted to a thoroughbred horse ranch in the 1960s, complete with a racetrack, according to McDonald.

In 1977, former banker-turned-winemaker Charles Shaw and his wife, Lucy, bought the estate, planted vineyards and began producing wines under his name, though he lost the property after falling into bankruptcy and divorce in 1991, McDonald said.

Shaw would sell the brand to wine industry veteran Fred Franzia in 1995, who in 2002 turned it into the inexpensive “Two Buck Chuck” line that is sold exclusively at Trader Joe’s today.

In 1994, Chicago natives John and Ellen Benish were in Napa Valley to attend a wine auction when they discovered the estate and “ended up buying a property,” McDonald said.

At the time, the vineyard and property were in rough shape, McDonald said. The Benishes replanted the vines, redeveloped the winery on site, rebuilt the main residence, built the guesthouse and founded Benessere Vineyards, specializing in Italian varietals.

“It’s a generational property and the next generation is not necessarily interested in continuing so they’ve decided to move on,” McDonald said.

The property comes with the entitlements and permits necessary should a buyer want to start their own operation, McDonald said.

For more information, go to pdne.ws/4fmfqt4.