B Cellars Releases Special New Napa Valley Chardonnay from Legendary Grower

Oakville estate's B Cellars, known for its diverse portfolio of food-friendly wines from Napa Valley’s most celebrated vineyard sites, announces its new spring pairing menu alongside the debut release of their 2022 Beckstoffer Carneros Lake Vineyard Chardonnay (SRP: $100). Founded in 2003 by Duffy Keys and Jim Borsack, B Cellars has become a benchmark for wine making expertise, customer loyalty, and unparalleled culinary programming.

Since the winery launched in 2003, B Cellars has nurtured a unique partnership with celebrated grower Andy Beckstoffer and continues to be one of the few wineries in the Napa Valley that produces a wine from each of the six Beckstoffer Heritage Vineyards. B Cellars’ rare access to Beckstoffer’s Carneros Lake Chardonnay is a testament to the longevity of that relationship. The 2022 Carneros Lake Chardonnay is sourced from the cool, rolling lowlands of Carneros that run from the highway to the wetland shores of San Pablo Bay. Morning fog routinely shrouds the vines, and proximity to the San Francisco Bay moderates the temperatures. This consistent coastal climate makes possible lengthy hang time for the grapes, developing rich, palate-filling flavors balanced by bright acidity.

B Cellars co-founders Borsack and Keys describe themselves as 'two guys who set out to create food centric, world-class wines showcased by a winery experience that didn’t exist in Napa Valley 20 years ago.' B Cellars is now in a unique position to demonstrate how an early pivot away from the distribution model helped safeguard the winery from what is now being described as an industry-wide downturn.

In 2011, B Cellars made the tough decision to pivot away from traditional wine sales channels, and move to a 100% direct-to-consumer sales model, all directly from the winery. The estate achieved that goal in 2017 and has been 100% DTC ever since. Around the same time, co-founder Duffy Keys, a former Four Seasons Hotels executive, heard of an AI platform used for qualitative analysis and online customer listening in order to help hotels improve customer offerings, and in turn increase revenue and efficiency. This AI “consultant” concluded that B Cellars wasn’t charging enough for tastings, essentially cheapening the brand in the eyes of potential clients.

Adjustments needed to be made. This prompted Duffy to increase the price of tastings by about 30%. Almost immediately, the attrition rates for the B Cellars wine club plummeted, annual visits to the winery increased significantly, and total wine sales grew at an average annual rate of 9%. Today, thanks to the 100% DTC model and the learnings from Metis AI technology, B Cellars has seen upward growth since 2017, including a noticeable rise in Gen Z and millennial clients. 25% of B Cellars customers have been purchasing from the winery for 5+ years and are spending 3x more now than when they first started.

“I decided that we were going to create The Four Seasons of a winery, with high touch, personalized service that will win the hearts and minds of those that appreciate that which separates B Cellars from everyone else,” said Keys. “In world class luxury hotels, it’s all about making an emotional connection, so why not apply the same level of scientific data to find out what will resonate with our winery customers?”

Borsack and Keys credit their decision to turn away from selling through third-party distributors to focus on selling exclusively direct to consumers as a major turning point in the B Cellars success story. It was a decision affirmed by early use of AI.

In 2018, B Cellars was the first winery to seek consumer feedback through the aid of artificial intelligence, emphasizing emotion and data analytics. Eschewing star or numeric ratings, Borsack and Keys instead wanted to determine the depth and durability of their customer relationships, especially in comparison to other high-end Napa wineries. They retained a prominent San Francisco-based management consulting firm that developed Metis, at the time, described as a propriety, cutting-edge AI and behavioral research program. B Cellars became the first winery to deploy Metis. One the program’s top objectives remains to provide insights into the emotional connection a business is making with its customers – arguably the most coveted attribute a brand seeks to understand.

“One of the great things about the B Cellars study was including non-winery businesses,” said Kyle Richey, co-founder of Metis. The study included restaurants, hotels and even retailers. “This was a counter-intuitive approach to figure out how to build a wine business -- very revolutionary,” added Richey. The result was the discovery that B Cellars customers’ primary motivation was their belief in the integrity of the brand. “They wanted to go on a journey of enrichment,” said Richey, “with B Cellars as the guide.”

In 2012, Keys and Borsack conceived and developed from the ground-up their vision for a reimagined, experience-driven winery. Situated on the Oakville Cross Road, this state-of-the-art wine production facility includes an extensive cave network for barrel storage and several entertainment areas for wine tasting. The property also features a dedicated Hospitality House; it serves as the focal point supporting the winery’s expansive wine and food pairing programs. Complete with an interactive, open-hearth kitchen, the Hospitality House is surrounded by estate vineyards providing indoor and outdoor seating creating its own ineffable energy.

“Our first 10 years solidified B Cellars reputation for producing best-in-class wines from Napa Valley and neighboring Sonoma,” said Borsack. “During the second 10 years of our journey, our vision expanded to include our desire to change the way visitors to Napa Valley engage with a winery.”

We cannot wait to see what the next 10 years have in store for B Cellars. For more information and to book a reservation, please visit bcellars.com/visit or call (707) 709-8787.