Napa Superstar Thomas Rivers Brown Opens a New Winery
In the past decade, superstar winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown has received 25 perfect 100-point scores from wine critic Robert Parker for Cabernet Sauvignons he has crafted, which is why dozens of Napa Valley wineries pay him the big bucks as a consultant. This week he officially opens Elusa, a pet project a stone’s throw from the house in Calistoga he shares with his wife Genevieve, their two children, and their three Aston Martins.
Elusa has been in development for more than a decade and as a result, Brown says, “it’s the only new winery in the valley that’s opening with a library of older vintages.” I visited the property in the spring of 2017, or possibly 2016, and I seem to remember he told me it would open in September—but he didn’t say which September.
Even then I could see the lineaments of a beautiful winery, composed of concrete, timber, and glass, designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates. Although the winery wasn’t open, grapes from the 4.7-acre vineyard were vinified off property; the library of vintages goes back to 2010. The Elusa portfolio will also feature wines from neighboring Calistoga vineyards; Brown’s intention is to highlight the wines of Calistoga, which sits at the north end of the Napa Valley, and raise its stature and recognition.
Although Calistoga’s Chateau Montelena was one of the stars of the so-called Judgement of Paris in 1975, where it’s 1973 Chardonnay placed first above some of Burgundy’s most illustrious names, Calistoga is not as celebrated as other Napa Valley AVAs (American Vitultural Areas) like Oakville, Rutherford, and Stag’s Leap. Brown hopes to change that. “I think Calistoga is underrated,” he says. “The goal of the project is to find and promote the best vineyards of the neighborhood.”
Elusa offers memberships that include allocations of releases from the winery along with access to a private members lounge. The three levels of membership range in price from $1,500 to $4,000. Non-members will be able to book customized tastings and tours of the vineyard and the wine making facilities, starting at $100. For the time being, the distribution of the wine is being limited to members and tasting room visitors.
The winery shares a property with the Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Napa Valley, which will be opening later in the fall. Foodies who are still depressed about the closing of the restaurant at Meadowood, which was badly damaged by fire in 2020, should be heartened by the Calistoga debut of chef Erik Anderson, formerly of three-star Michelin restaurant Coi in San Francisco, who will be behind the stove at Truss, the resort’s new restaurant.
Brown’s career in wine began when he drove West from his hometown of Sumter, South Carolina, and landed a job at a wine store in Calistoga called the All Seasons, which was a tribal gathering spot for Napa’s wine community. Among those he met at the All Seasons was Erin Jordan, who gave him his first wine-making job as a cellar rat at Turley Cellars, and Fred Schrader, who would become his first major client after he founded Shrader Cellars. In partnership with Schrader, Brown made Cabernets from several plots in the prime To Kalon vineyared in Oakville, earning his first two 100 point scores with the 2002 vintage. That same year he founded Rivers-Marie, with his wife Genevieve—producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as Cabernet. In the years since, he has become the most successful and influential winemaker in California, especially renowned for his ability to make supple, voluptuous Cabernets.
If you are buying a vineyard in Napa with the surplus millions from the sale of your tech start up or your chain of auto dealerships, you probably want Thomas to oversee your project. But at this point, in addition to very deep pockets, you will need to own what he judges to be a very special property, and to demonstrate a good attitude. “Clients who don’t behave,” he says, “get fired.” You can save millions by purchasing an Elusa membership, or checking into the Four Seasons and booking a tasting.
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