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14 WINES&VINES May 2017 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Terlato expands to Washington Terlato Wine Group purchased the 120-acre Klipsun Vineyards property in the Red Mountain AVA. Although the new vineyard owner has agreed to continue selling fruit to existing vineyard clients, Terlato also intends to make wine from the site's grapes and may launch a new Washington state wine with the property's name. Terlato Wine Group also owns Chim- ney Rock Winery and Rutherford Hill Winery in the Napa Valley as well as Sanford Winery & Vineyards in Lompoc, Calif. Business partners sue Charles Banks The Schottenstein family of Ohio filed a complaint in Napa County Superior Court alleging that Charles Banks, the beleaguered finance executive and their partner in Mayacamas Vineyards, diverted more than a half-million dol- lars from their shared venture into his company, Terroir Capital. Banks and the Schottensteins formed CBSchott Inc. in 2013 to purchase the Mount Veeder winery, a partnership Banks filed to have dissolved in 2016 in order to force a winery sale, according to Wine Business Monthly. The disagree- ment with the Schottensteins is not Banks' only legal trouble. This spring he pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a case filed in San Antonio, Texas, by former professional basketball player Tim Duncan. Old Fetzer Winery getting new owner Cannabis distributor Flow Kana will purchase the former Fetzer Winery in Mendocino County, Calif., according to Wine Spectator. The storied loca- tion was home to the Fetzer brand's first commercial wines, before the company outgrew the site and moved to Hopland, Calif. Although the Fetzer brand was sold to Brown- Forman and later Concha y Toro, the Fetzer family has retained ownership of the 80-acre winery site, which was listed for $3.5 million. Balboa Winery acquires Beresan in Walla Walla Beresan Winery is merging with Bal- boa Winery as part of an acquisition announced April 12. The two Walla Walla, Wash.-based wineries have shared a winemaking team under the direction of Thomas Glase and a pro- duction facility since their founding in 2013, but have maintained separate tasting rooms. The two wineries will now operate as one entity with Glase serving as director of winemaking, Amy Glase as director of sales and Tyler Grennan as lead winemaker. Champagne house invests in Oregon Pinot Maisons & Domaines Henriot Amer- ica, the U.S. arm of the family behind Champagne Henriot, purchased a majority stake in Beaux Frères, a Pinot Noir producer in Newberg, Ore. Taking its name from the French term for brothers-in-law, the winery and 35- acre vineyard was founded by broth- ers-in-law Michael Etzel and Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate. Etzel will remain a partner in the company, according to Wine Spectator, which broke the news April 17. Another in- vestor, Robert Roy, sold his shares to Maisons & Domaines Henriot. OSHA fines Trinchero for forklift death The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Trin- chero Family Estates (TFE) $44,575 for violations the department said led to the death of Jose Alberto Avina in August 2016. Avina was help- ing guide a forklift driver unloading barrel racks from a container when the racks came loose, crushing the 43-year-old winery worker. The ac- cident happened at TFE's Joel Gott Wines facility in the Napa Valley. Trefethen to reopen barn Trefethen Family Vineyards an- nounced it will reopen the historic winery building damaged by a mas- sive earthquake that rocked Napa, Calif., in the early hours of Aug. 24, 2014. Prior to its renovation, Tre- fethen's crooked barn became the image associated with the magni- tude-6.0 earthquake. The winery is planning to herald the building's return to functionality with a ticketed celebration May 6. More satellite tasting rooms in Washington? Washington state lawmakers are trying to increase the number of satellite tasting rooms wineries can open in the state. Presently wineries can have two satellite tasting rooms, and the proposed legislation would bring that number to four per winery license. Supporters of the initiative say small wineries benefit from get- ting their agricultural products close to larger population centers. Wash- ington state is home to 757 wineries, according to Wines Vines Analytics, and 500 of them report having at least one tasting room. Famed vineyard gets new owner E. & J. Gallo Winery acquired the esteemed Stagecoach Vineyard in a real estate deal worth $180 million, according to records filed with Napa County, Calif. The well-known vineyard straddling the Atlas Peak and Pritchard Hill AVAs typically sells fruit to about 90 wineries, 30 of which use it in vineyard-designate labels. The new owner has said they plan to honor existing contracts with the eventual goal of using more fruit for Gallo's own brands. Some of the company's labels such as Louis M. Martini, Orin Swift and William Hill Estate already source grapes from Stagecoach Vineyard. See page 15. Further mergers and acquisitions As anticipated, 2017 is turning out to be a hot year for wine industry buyers and sellers. This spring Delicato Family Vineyards purchased a large production winery to support existing brands (pictured above); WX Brands of Novato, Calif., acquired several new labels; Francis Ford Coppola secured fruit supply by purchasing a new vineyard in the Al- exander Valley, and Trinchero took ownership of a wine brand in which it had previously invested. See page 16. LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com Top Stories The month in perspective Charles Banks