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14 WINES&VINES October 2017 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS GWSS: JACK KELLY CLARK Owners of Silver Oak pick up Oregon vineyard The Duncan family behind the Silver Oak and Twomey brands in California's North Coast purchased a 40-acre vineyard property in Oregon from Dick Erath, who confirmed the deal for Wines & Vines. Erath was one of a handful of winemakers who in the 1970s helped launch the Willamette Valley wine industry that now in- cludes hundreds of wineries and is recognized as a top location for high-end Pinot Noir. Twomey is known for its Pinot, and the winery current sells a 2015 Oregon Pinot Noir for $46. Andrew Peller buying three B.C. wineries The Andrew Peller wine company announced it is buying three British Columbia wineries for nearly $75 million ($95 million Canadian). The Ontario-based wine company is acquiring Black Hills Estate, Gray Monk Estate and Tinhorn Creek Vineyards. The deal will add to the Peller port- folio that already includes B.C. wineries Sandhill, Red Rooster Winery and Calona Vineyards, plus others in Ontario and Nova Scotia. The deals are expected to close by the end of October. GWSS outbreak in Temecula Valley Scientists from the University of Cal- ifornia, Riverside, reported a spike in the number of glassy-winged sharpshooters trapped in the Tem- ecula Valley this summer. A team of researchers trapped more than 1,500 of the pests in July, the largest number recorded since 2003, when the program began. Glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) is a known vector of Xylella fastidiosa, the bac- teria that causes Pierce's disease, which devastated the Southern California winegrowing region in the 1990s. A lab at UC Riverside cur- rently is conducting trials to measure the effectiveness of inoculating vines with a benign strain of the bacteria developed by a plant pathologist at the University of Florida. Alcohol distributor buys Ontario winery Toronto, Ontario-based distributor Corby Spirit and Wine Ltd. an- nounced it had purchased Foreign Affair Winery in Vineland Station, Ontario, for $5.1 million ($6.2 million Canadian), including the winery's assets and brands Temptress, Enchanted, Amarosé and The Con- spiracy. Founders Len and Marisa Crispino will remain involved with the 10,000-case winery. Located in the Vinemount Ridge appellation, Foreign Affair sells 75% of its wines direct to consumer, according to Wines Vines Analytics, and is known for its con- centrated appassimento wines. Treasury to pay $39 million for destroying wine Treasury Wine Estates, which in 2013 destroyed thousands of gal- lons of excess wine, settled a class- action lawsuit filed by shareholders related to the subsequent write- down of its business in the United States. Law firm Maurice Black- burn, which filed the suit, alleged the Australian wine producer misled investors, who will be eligible for part of the $39 million settlement. Sonoma auction raises $5.2 million The 2017 Sonoma County Wine Auction raised $5.2 million to sup- port local charities. The auction took place Sept. 16 at La Crema Estate at Saralee's Vineyard and was sponsored by Jackson Fam- ily Wines, Visa Signature and TricorBraun WinePak. The day's top, wine-only lot was a six bottle collection of large-format Kosta Browne 2014 single-vintage Pinot Noirs, which sold for $37,000. Huneeus purchases vineyard property Huneeus Vintners of Napa, Calif., acquired a nearby vineyard from SPP Napa Vineyards LLC, Wine Business Monthly reported. The $24 million deal included a 161- acre property with 110 acres planted to vines. According to Wines Vines Analytics, Huneeus owns Faust, Flowers Vineyard & Winery, Quintessa Vineyards, St. Clement Vineyards and VML Rus- sian River Winery. Boston to welcome City Winery location City Winery will open a Boston location on Oct. 16. The chain of winery/concert venues started by Michael Dorf, founder of legendary music venue The Knitting Factory in New York City, already is operat- ing in New York, Chicago, Nashville and Atlanta. A sixth City Winery location is planned for Washington, D.C. One previously operated in Napa, Calif., but has closed. Hoopes buys Hopper Creek Hoopes Winery & Vineyard, a boutique producer of Cabernet Sauvignon located in Oakville, Calif., purchased 1,800-case Hopper Creek Vineyard & Winery in Yountville, Calif., according to Wine Country Consultants, which represented both buyer and seller in the deal. The 8-acre property is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and has space for the new owners to entertain visitors and sell wines direct to consumer. Lawmaker to open Virginia winery A Virginia state delegate is starting a new winery on his 50-acre prop- erty in Hanover County, Va. Having dubbed the site White Plains Farm & Winery, Chris Peace is grow- ing estate Viognier and Tannat. Though Peace is still waiting for a license from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, he is planning a 1,000-square-foot tasting room space. 2017 vintage comes with challenges Mildew, heat, rain, smoke and a scarcity of workers made the 2017 harvest more challenging than ex- pected. A vintage that initially had been widely described as a return to a normal year in terms of ripen- ing and yield instead sped up across much of the North Coast of Califor- nia because of unprecedented heat in late August and early September. Southern Oregon and other large swaths of the Pacific Northwest have also been blanketed in wildfire smoke, promptintg fears of smoke taint. The heat in California was fol- lowed by unseasonable rain and humidity, but by mid-September—as Wines & Vines went to press for this issue—conditions were returning to normal for picking Cabernet Sauvignon and other late ripening varieties. See page 15. LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com Top Stories The month in perspective