The Ellman family left South Africa for the United States in 1974 and spent three generations manufacturing mattresses. When they sold the business in 2005, Neil Ellman approached his brother Lance about starting something else entirely. Visiting Napa, they were struck by how much the rugged Vaca range resembled home — the Stellenbosch of their childhood — and settled on a west-facing parcel along the Silverado Trail at the base of Soda Canyon, in the shadow of Atlas Peak just south of Stags Leap District. The vineyard sits on an ancient riverbed strewn with cobbles, planted in 1999 to a sought-after suitcase clone of Cabernet Sauvignon, and the property still carries its original 1906 water tower and barn. Andy Erickson, of Screaming Eagle and Dalla Valle, makes the wines. The winery itself was completed in September 2025, with an open culinary kitchen, Bordeaux-sourced interiors and Warhols on the walls.