Auction of Charles Shaw’s former Napa Valley winery estate ends at $9 million opening bid price

An online auction of the former Charles Shaw winery estate in Napa Valley closed Wednesday with a winning bid of $9 million, meeting the opening price set by Concierge Auctions. The 42-acre property, once home to the "Two Buck Chuck" brand, had failed to sell in conventional listings since November 2024, starting at $35 million.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...A 42-acre Napa Valley winery estate once home to the Charles Shaw brand https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/19/napa-valley-winery-auction-benessere-vineyards-real-estate/ appears to have found a buyer after multiple conventional and unconventional attempts to sell it in the past few years. The virtual gavel dropped Wednesday afternoon on the online auction of Benessere Vineyards property https://www.conciergeauctions.com/auctions/1010-big-tree-rd-st-helena-ca-94574 at 1010 Big Tree Road near St. Helena. The apparent winning bid was the $9 million bid that met Concierge Auctions’ market reserve https://www.conciergeauctions.com/auction-process bidding-process and served as the opening bid to get the sale rolling June 15. The auctioneer had estimated bidding would start at $8 million to $12 million. Auction winners have two business days — in this case, until Thursday afternoon — to sign a purchase agreement and pay a 12% nonrefundable deposit into escrow, according to the company. Sales are expected to be completed 30 days after the close of bidding. Charles Shaw and his wife, Lucy, purchased the property in 1977, planted vineyards and launched their namesake wine brand. The Shaws lost the estate in bankruptcy, and Fred Franzia bought rights to the brand in 1995, and it later garnered the nickname “Two Buck Chuck” from its longtime $2 price now $4 in the Trader Joe’s store chain. Meanwhile, in 1994, John Benish, founder of Chicago-area school bus giant Cook-Illinois, and his wife, Ellen, acquired the estate and undertook extensive redevelopment, now with nearly 30 acres of vines. The property went on the market in a conventional real estate listing in November 2024 at $35 million https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/19/napa-valley-winery-auction-benessere-vineyards-real-estate/ , came off at the end of 2024, was relisted in February of last year at a 20% discount $28 million then was removed from the market in February of this year. The listing agent, Kevin McDonald of Sotheby’s International Realty, then took the unusual route of sale at auction. Demand for auctions of wine-related real estate prompted Concierge to launch its Global Wine & Vineyard Division with Benessere. Jeff Quackenbush joined North Bay Business Journal in May 1999. Reach him at jeff@nbbj.news or 707-521-4256.