Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/230154
NORTHWESTSULLIVAN WATCH SEAN P. brand in California, whose wines currently retail for $20-$90. JFW is also expected to make high-end, estate pinot noirs from these vineyards, though details have yet to be announced. ENTER JADOT Though less sweeping in its scope, Louis Jadot's purchase of Resonance Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton is of no less significance. While the famed producer, owned by New York-based Kobrand Corp., controls more than 500 acres of vineyards throughout Burgundy, this is its first foray outside of France. The fact that Jadot chose Oregon only strengthens the state's brand. "It's like the good witch putting the ruby slippers on Dorothy," said Charles Humble, director of communications and interactive marketing at the Oregon Wine Board. "It's a huge quality validation." Resonance, which will retain its name, is 32 acres in size, with a little more than 20 acres planted, almost all of it pinot noir. Jadot chairman Pierre-Henry Gagey said Winemaker Jacques Lardière will head up Louis Jadot's Resonance Vineyard project. that the company had been interested in expanding beyond France for some time, though it had not been looking very actively. 2013 INVESTMENTS Jackson Family Wines (California) + Zena Crown (Eola-Amity Hills). 250 acres, 80 planted + Gran Moraine Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton). 460 acres, 200 planted + Maple Grove Vineyard (Willamette Valley). 655 acres, unplanted + Soléna Estate Winery (Yamhill-Carlton). Includes 35-acre vineyard and winery but not the brand. Louis Jadot (France) + Resonance Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton). 32 acres, 20.5 planted Bacchus Capital Management (California) + Panther Creek Cellars + Wine By Joe. Brands include Dobbes Family Estate and Jovino Precept Wine (Washington) + Yamhela Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton). 374 acres, 30 acres planted, with plans to expand to 120 acres over five years 26 V I N E YA R D & WIN E RY MANAGEM ENT | Jan - Feb 2014 Familiarity with the Oregon industry and its producers forged at the state's annual International Pinot Noir Celebration helped cement the decision. "We have friends there, we like the place, we like the people, and the wine is very good," Gagey said. "The spirit in Oregon is a little bit like the spirit in Burgundy. It's a place where there are a lot of farmers. It's not too sophisticated." The project is being spearheaded by Jacques Lardière, who recently retired as Jadot's winemaker after 42 years. Lardière made the 2013 wines at Trisaetum Winery in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. While Gagey said the company will eventually build a facility, he intends to proceed slowly. "We need to take our time," he said. "We will do it step by step. First thing, let's try to produce a very good wine from our vineyard. After that, we will build a strategy to develop ourselves." OTHER INVESTMENTS Other non-Oregon companies also made significant investments in the state in 2013. San Franciscobased Bacchus Capital Management purchased Oregon's Panther Creek Cellars in May. Bacchus also made a follow-on investment in Wine By Joe, one of the state's largest producers, earlier in the year. The company had originally provided growth and refinancing capital to Wine By Joe in 2011. The private equity firm now has six wineries and brands in Oregon, California and Washington. Founder Sam Bronfman noted that the numerous recent investments in Oregon are, in some ways, more similar than different. "You look at what Kendall-Jackson is doing versus the people from Burgundy, they are looking at it from kind of a different perspective, but they are all seeing growth opportunity," he said. Seattle's Precept Wine, which owns wineries and brands in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, purchased Yamhela Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton. This adds 374 w w w. v wm m e d i a . c o m