Wines & Vines

14 WINES&VINES Collector's Edition WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Fetzer family sells Mendocino's Saracina Vineyards John Fetzer and Patty Rock have sold Saracina Vineyards in Hop- land, Calif., to Heritance Vintners, owned by the Taub Family Com- panies, which is known largely for its importing company, Palm Bay International. Saracina is a 250-acre property adjoining U.S. Highway 101 in southern Mendocino County, with a modern winery, barrel aging cave and sophisticated hospitality facility. Founded in 2000, Saracina makes 7,500 cases annually under the Saracina and Atrea brands. Heri- tance makes Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon while another Taub family brand based in California, Au Con- traire, focuses on Pinot Noir. Vintage Wine Estates acquires Qupé Vintage Wine Estates added more pearls to its necklace of noted wine brands with the purchase of Qupé in California's Central Coast. Founded in 1982 by Bob Lindquist, Qupé produces 35,000 cases per year of mostly Rhône-variety wines. The purchase includes the brand and inventory. No price was disclosed. Lindquist will stay on as consulting winemaker, and the tasting room, located in Arroyo Grande, Calif., will remain open. Qupé was previously owned by Terroir Selections, which acquired it in 2013, and formed a sales and marketing partnership with V2 Wine Group in 2018. Wine Group acquires 7 Deadly brand The Wine Group purchased the 7 Deadly brand created by Michael David Winery of Lodi, Calif., which includes 7 Deadly Zins, a varietal Zin- fandel, and 7 Deadly Red, a propri- etary red blend, both currently made from grapes sourced from the Lodi AVA. "We look forward to continu- ing to work with 7 Deadly's growers in the Lodi AVA, which we believe grows the best Zinfandel in California and the world," said Brian Vos, CEO of The Wine Group in a press release. No price was disclosed. Non-exempt workers and Wine Group settle A California judge in late October okayed a $6.8 million agreement to settle a lawsuit in which non-exempt workers alleged a series of labor vio- lations by the Livermore, Calif.-based company, including failure to properly pay overtime and minimum wages. The lawsuit also maintained that the company failed to pay wages on time and maintain requisite paperwork. The Wine Group produces more than 50 million cases of wine annually ac- cording to Wines Vines Analytics and produces dozens of brands. St. Francis buys Russian River vineyard St. Francis Winery & Vineyards ac- quired an 80-acre Chardonnay vineyard near Eastside Road in the Russian River Valley AVA for a re- ported $9.2 million. According to a press release announcing the acqui- sition, the winery plans to replant the property to additional varieties. St. Francis now owns four estate vine- yards that include another property in the Russian River Valley and two in Sonoma Valley. Zepponi & Company was the exclusive advisor to Silverado Investment Management Company, which sold the property to St. Francis. Lawsuit alleges TCA taint from barrel Opus One winery in Napa Valley filed a lawsuit for more than $470,000 over the sale of barrels allegedly contaminated with 2,4,6-trichloro- anisole (TCA), according to court records. The winery alleges 10 French oak wine barrels were con- taminated with TCA, resulting in the loss of 590 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon. The defendants listed in the lawsuit include Alain Fouquet and Associates Inc., Alain Fouquet French Cooperage, Bouyoud Distri- bution and associated entities, ac- cording to the complaint filed Dec. 11 in Napa County Superior Court and first reported by Wine Business Monthly. Opus One seeks at least $471,356 in damages, which include wine losses, $9,800 for the 10 bar- rels and testing expenses, according to the lawsuit. When contacted by Wine Business Monthly, Alain Fou- quet referred questions to Bouyoud Distribution, saying he is only a dis- tributor for the barrels. TFF Group of France owns Bouyoud and Alain Fouquet French Cooperage, TFF's website indicates. Neither TFF nor Bouyoud representatives could be immediately reached to comment on the complaint. Francis Coppola gets into the cannabis business A new company created by film di- rector and California winery owner Francis Ford Coppola has launched a cannabis lifestyle brand called the Grower's Series. "Wine and canna- bis are two ancient and bounteous gifts of Mother Nature, linked by great care, terroir and temperate- ness. Expertise mak- ing one applies to the other," said Coppola in a news release. The Coppola prod- uct's packaging fea- tures an innovative tin canister that opens t o r e v e a l t h r e e precise grams of cannabis flower. A c c o r d i n g t o t h e c o m p a n y, each strain of- f e r s a u n i q u e experience that reflects the di- verse Humboldt County micro- climates where the cannabis is grown. Bountiful harvest of mergers and acquisitions Autumn brought not only the 2018 grape har- vest but also a bountiful harvest of mergers and acquisitions in the wine industry. Wine brands including iconic Qupé in California's Central Coast, the 7 Deadly brand of Lodi, Calif., and boutique winery Elyse in Napa Valley changed hands, while vineyards including Saracina in Mendocino County, Calif., and 50-acre Olenik vineyard in Or- egon's Chehalem Mountains AVA went to new owners. (See more on this page and in Regional News starting on page 21.) Elouan Pinot Noir labels declared misleading Accused of misleading labeling by Or- egon vintners, the state's Liquor Control Commission and the TTB, Copper Cane wine company of Napa, Calif., agreed to discontinue its current labels for the El- ouan and Willametter Journal brands. The wines have been made in California from grapes grown in Oregon and the labels had been approved by the TTB, but after pro- tests from Oregonians, notably Jim Bernau of Willamette Valley Vineyards, both the state liquor control commission and the TTB intervened. (See page 16) LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com. Top Stories The month in perspective

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