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By Michelle Locke NEWS FLASH ser Peak's fortunes on an upswing? That's certainly what the Sonoma County winery's new owners are hoping. "We're a global wine company Will going Down Under put Gey- that's establishing a footprint in the United States and we hope to build a significant wine business here over the next few years," said Tim Matz, North America manag- ing director for Australia-based Accolade Wines, which bought Geyser Peak along with sister win- eries XYZin and Atlas Peak as the former Ascentia Wine Estates was dismantled in late spring. For Accolade, the world's fifth- largest wine com- pany, the purchase br ings a double dividend: a spring- board for national distribution in the United States plus the acquisition of a venerable brand. "Geyser Peak which is the third-largest wine brand in the UK. Headquartered in Reynella, South Australia, Accolade has more than 1,600 employees worldwide. Selling price for Geyser Peak was not disclosed, although reports have put the total at around $20 million. As part of the deal, Acco- lade Wines will lease Geyser Peak's homestead, winery, 98 acres of vineyards and the tasting room. The sale signaled the winding down of Ascentia, a Healdsburg- based company that struggled after launching just before the financial crisis hit. The company had already sold a number of assets, and short- ly after the Accolade purchase, E. & J. Gallo Winery acquired Ascentia's last two wineries, Columbia Winery and Covey Run in Washington state. In the shor t would be a core brand in that port- folio," Matz said. "Obviously, we think with its history and heritage, it lends a lot of attributes that we want to have in our U.S., North American and global strategy. This gives us the platform and the presence, and we see Accolade as a wine company that's going to grow." Accolade Wines was formed by Australia-based CHAMP Private Equity after it purchased the divest- ments of Constellation Wines. It is the No. 1 wine company by volume in the United Kingdom and Austra- lia, with brands including Hardy's, Banrock Station and Echo Falls, WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM Tim Matz of Accolade Wines is looking to build a major wine business in the United States. term, Accolade hopes to grow the volume of Geyser Peak and expand distribution within the United States, Matz said. The new owners also want to increase G e y s e r P e a k exports in Canada, the UK, Europe and Asia. Matz also sees opportunities for expansion for XYZin, which like Geyser Peak, is based in Sonoma County. As for whether any structural changes are under way, Matz said, "There's a number of things we will look at. With any acquisitions like this we are always looking for ways to improve." One plan is to expand the direct-to-consumer channel both through the tasting room and wine club. The new owners also want to maximize the use of Geyser Peak's production faci l ities, possibly through custom-crush operations or bringing in some of the company's other brands in bulk and bottling Crushpad Assets Acquired by CastleGate After a financial crisis forced Crush- pad to put its assets up for auction in August, Structured Solutions Inc. and Aspect2 LLC – subsidiaries of CastleGate Capital Advisors – placed the winning bid of $654,866. At press time, hundreds of the Sonoma-based custom crush facility's clients were still seeking details about the fate of more than 900 barrels of wine stored at a Sebastiani warehouse. Study Examines Female Winemakers' Prestige A new research study published by Santa Clara University indicates that the wines produced by California wineries with female winemakers are more highly acclaimed proportional to their presence in the field than those having male winemakers. In their pre- vious study, SCU professors Dr. Lucia Albino Gilbert, Ph.D. and John Gilbert, Ph.D., found that only 9.8% of Califor- nia wineries have women as the main or lead winemaker. Frank Indelicato Sr. Dies at 87 Frank Indelicato Sr., longtime leader of Delicato Family Vineyards, passed away on July 22 at age 87. Together with his brothers Anthony and Vincent, Indelicato helped take the family busi- ness from a small vineyard planted in 1924 by their father, Gaspare Indeli- cato, and uncle Sebastiano Luppino, to become the 10th-largest U.S. wine company in 2011. Washington Wineries Get Wise Winerywise, a new online guide to sustainable enology and business practices for Washington state winer- ies, is now available at www.winery- wise.org. The guide received funding of nearly $130,000 in 2010 through the Washington State Department of Agri- culture Specialty Crop Block Grant. For more industry news briefs, visit the News Flash page on V&WM's website: www.vineyardwinerymanagement. com/magazine/web-exclusive1.asp SEPT - OCT 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 13