Brown Estate Winery

Brown Estate is the first Black-owned estate winery in the Napa Valley. Located in the hills east of Rutherford, the remote property was purchased in 1980 by Bassett & Marcela Brown. Between 1981-1990, they restored the long-abandoned homestead and planted vineyards that gave rise in the mid-90s to an eponymous wine label founded by next-gen siblings (above, L-R) Deneen, Coral & David Brown, whose first offering was 700 cases of 1996 Brown Estate Zinfandel. The Brown lineup has expanded over time to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, and a popular red blend known as Chaos Theory, along with a suite of single-vineyard Zinfandels and numerous small lot specialty wines.

Backed by the family’s low-key hospitality, Brown Estate wines enjoyed steady under-the-radar popularity for two decades before a series of local and national events in 2014-2015 led to a tipping point of exposure on social media. By now, a uniquely diverse community of wine consumers that had coalesced around the Brown brand through the years — including a longtime base of devoted wine club members — and in 2017, the family opened their Brown Downtown Napa tasting room to make their wines and storied hospitality more accessible to visitors. In 2020, they launched their next-generation sister label, House of Brown, and in 2025, they are celebrating 45 years in the Napa Valley and Brown Estate’s 30th anniversary.