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I've spoken to a half-dozen winemaker in the past two days and asked each how the grapes were looking. I heard a lot of long sighs followed by concerns about when - or if - the grapes would ever ripen in the Northwest.
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates’ operating profit rose 30 percent to $14.8 million in the second quarter, according to a securities filing by its Connecticut-based parent company, UST.
Foley Wine Group, a California-based wine company started by the former head of Fidelity National Financial Inc., has purchased 60 percent of Walla Walla's stately Three Rivers Winery.
Duane Vollmuth, the winery's general manager and one of its founders, said Bill Foley, Fidelity's former CEO, and Alan L. Stinson, the company's current CEO, will visit the winery located between Walla Walla and Lowden today to officially announce the acquisition.
Vollmuth will stay on as general manager and retain some ownership in the winery, and winemaker Holly Turner and assistant winemaker Andy Slusarenko will continue to craft the wines. But founding partners Steve Ahler and Charles "Bud" Stocking have been "essentially" bought out, Vollmuth said.
Details of the deal have ot been disclosed, but the move will help widen distribution of Three Rivers wines, he said.
"The name of the game right now for wineries our size is sales distribution — nationally and internationally," Vollmuth said.
The playing field is crowded. "When we started in 1999, there were 2,800 wineries across the country. Now there are close to 7,000, plus international competition," he said.
Three Rivers produces about 15,000 cases of wine a year, but even with loads of awards and a Walla Walla address it can be a challenge selling it all, said Vollmuth.
"It's a feet on the street kind of thing — you have to be out there working with distributors, calling on restaurants and wine shops," he said.
That can be difficult when you have a winery to run and vineyards to oversee.
Three Rivers has distribution in 28 states, but being a part of the Foley portfolio will help introduce Three Rivers into new markets, Vollmuth said.
In the past few months, Foley has purchased Merus in Napa Valley and Firestone in Santa Barbara. He's also looking to buy an Oregon winery, Vollmuth said.
While Vollmuth travels the Northwest to sell Three Rivers wines, Turner will work with Foley to increase distribution of the wines around the country.
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