Belle and Barney Rhodes

“If America had royalty, Barney and Belle Rhodes would be the duke and duchess of Napa Valley. They are admired on so many fronts: as proprietors of Bella Oaks Vineyard, one of the Valley’s top Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards; as wine collectors with an internationally renowned cellar; as generous philanthropists; as tireless promoters of Napa Valley; and as superb hosts.“

Barney was a dermatologist who became chief operating officer of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. But from his early days as a doctor, his passion was wine and Belle quickly came to share that interest. Along the way, she studied cooking with a star-studded roster of instructors, including Roger Vergé, Jacques Pépin, Lorenza de’ Medici and Cecilia Chiang.

In 1959, they bought an old prune orchard west of Oakville, ripped out the trees and planted twelve acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. Before the Rhodeses even harvested the first crop off their new Oakville vineyards, they sold it to Tom and Martha May, who later christened it “Martha’s Vineyard.” A couple of years later, Belle and Barney became early investors to help launch a legend: Heitz Wine Cellars and subsequently bought another prune orchard, this one west of Rutherford, and planted what became the Bella Oaks Vineyard. From the start, the grapes have gone to Heitz, whose Bella Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon is a California classic.

Belle, one of the Valley’s most accomplished home cooks, donated her cookbook and pottery collections to Napa Valley College, which named a teaching kitchen in her honor. She also spearheaded the fundraising for a scholarship fund for culinary students at Napa Valley College. If you visit the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, you’ll notice a room named for Belle and Barney, who rarely said no if the issue was food or wine education. Their patronage, encouragement and promotion of the culinary arts have helped make Napa Valley a wonderful place to visit and live.

Excerpted with permission from Napa Stories: Profiles, Reflections & Recipes from the Napa Valley by Michael Chiarello with Janet Fletcher.


More stories about Belle and Barney Rhodes:

Press Release April 16, 2010 - Celebrity Chefs and Luminaries Join Together in a Celebration of Food and Wine Honoring Belle and Barney Rhodes

Celebration of Belle and Barney Rhodes Planned - Mia Cakebread

A Trip down memory Lane - Steve Heimoff

Barney and Belle Rhodes - Rutherford Dust Society

Belle Rhodes - WineTravel.com

In Memoriam -  Diana Stockton, Napa Valley Wine Library Association

Appreciation/Belle Rhodes – Napa Valley’s patron of the culinary arts
 - Janet Fletcher, San Francisco Chronicle

Belle & Barney Rhodes - Napa Valley  College Found