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NORTHWEST WATCH SEAN P. SULLIVAN Precept Wine in Seattle recently purchased Yamhela Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton, adding 374 acres to its portfolio. Photo: Russ Widstrand/Widstrand Photography OREGON LAND RUSH Outside money pours into state's wine industry ast year was a watershed one for the Oregon wine industry, with an unprecedented influx of outside businesses and capital coming into the state. The biggest 2013 splashes came from Jackson Family Wines (California) and Maison Louis Jadot (France), but others made significant investments as well. The results are expected to increase vineyard investments in the coming years and broaden the reach of Oregon's brand. Of the numerous wine-based investments in Oregon in 2013, those made by Jackson Family Wines (JFW) were the most spectacular in scope and scale. The company is best known for its omnipresent Kendall-Jackson brand, though its portfolio includes 30 wineries and roughly 35,000 acres of vineyards worldwide. JFW made an "all in" investment in Oregon, purchasing a total of 1,350 acres of vineyard land across the Willamette Valley. The land, much of which came from holdings that were previously part of the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS), included 250 acres in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, 495 acres in Yamhill-Carlton, and another 655 acres in Willamette Valley. Some 300 of those acres are under vine, with the vast majority planted to pinot noir. JFW also purchased the Soléna Estate facility and an adjacent vineyard, though not the brand, w w w. v w m m e d i a.com which will be relocated to a new facility in the Dundee Hills. Eugenia Keegan, a veteran winemaker in California, Oregon and France, will be general manager for JFW's Oregon operations. She said the driving force b e h i n d t h e c o m p a n y 's acquisitions is an interest in Oregon's signature grape. + Last year saw an unprec"Barbara is really pasedented influx of outside sionate about pinot noir," money into Oregon, includKeegan said of JFW chairing investments by Jackson man Barbara Banke. "The Family Wines and Maison goal is to do what Oregon Louis Jadot. does best and that is to + These investments appear make the highest-quality to reflect a series of recent Oregon pinot noir and chartrends and pressures in the donnay that we possibly wine industry. can." Keegan noted that the focus will be on high+ Most expect the result to end, luxury wines. "Jackbe an increased interest in son Family is not going to vineyard land in Oregon, and do anything differently than increased grape costs. anyone else up here," she + Jackson Family and Jadot's said. "However, its market national and international reach will be much broader, reaches are expected to including international." broaden the exposure of Grapes from some Oregon wine. of these vineyards are expected to be featured in Jackson Family's La Crema AT A GLANCE J a n - Feb 2014 | V INE YA RD & W INE RY M AN A G EM EN T 25