|
Precept buys stake in Prosser wineries
(Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 17--Seattle-based Precept Brands is adding two long-standing Lower Valley wineries to its expanding portfolio.
Precept, the fastest growing wine company in the state, has bought a 50 percent interest in Willow Crest Winery and Apex Cellars, both in Prosser. Financial details of the transactions are not being disclosed.
"It's a joint venture -- I make the wine and they sell it," said Willow Crest owner Dave Minick.
It's a perfect pairing for Minick, whose wine career began in 1982 when he planted pinot gris and syrah grapes on 185 acres of his Roza farm north of Prosser. In 1995, he started making wine and now produces more than 8,000 cases of Willow Crest wines a year.
Precept won't be a partner in the vineyards, but will own half of Minick's Prosser winery and tasting room, including wines made under the Willow Crest label.
Minick said he and Andrew Browne, Precept's founder and CEO, talked about the collaboration for about three years.
"Andrew is definitely a visionary and he came up with a concept I felt strongly about," Minick said.
Minick said Willow Crest will focus on estate-grown, predominantly white varietal wines, including pinot gris and riesling. He'll also make small lots of chenin blanc, syrah, cabernet franc, port, rose, chardonnay, merlot, mourvedre and late harvest wines as tasting room exclusives.
The partnership between Precept and Apex isn't the first time Browne has sealed a deal with Apex owner Harry Alhadeff. Four years ago, Alhadeff sold his Washington Hills label to Precept.
"He's done an impressive job of growing that label and he'll be able to take Apex to a new level," Alhadeff said.
Alhadeff started Apex Cellars in 1988 with well-known winemaker Brian Carter and the brand grew into one of the most respected Washington labels.
The Apex brand, made in Prosser and Grandview, now has three labels -- Apex, Apex II and Bridgman. And last fall Alhadeff moved the tasting room, which had been in Sunnyside for nearly 20 years, to Prosser's Vintner's Village.
Alhadeff said wine lovers won't notice a difference in the Apex bottle, but the partnership will make the wines more widely available.
"For Apex to grow it would have required a lot of capital in infrastructure and distribution," Alhadeff said. "Small brands have an extremely difficult time in getting any focus from distributors."
They have few choices, Alhadeff explained. Small winemakers can go with a small distributor that handles a small portfolio of high-end wines sold in small amounts to wine retailers or restaurants. Or they can go with large distributors, which are dominated by the big players "who won't sell any of your product," Alhadeff said.
They also can try to market and distribute their own wine, but for guys like Minick who grow their own grapes, make their own wine and run a tasting room, it's hard to find time to visit restaurants and wine shop owners.
"I'd run out of daylight hours," he said.
Minick and Alhadeff said their partnerships will allow them to grow their wineries while also growing Precept's portfolio -- allowing them to sell more wine to a wider audience.
Precept has also established a partnership with Red Door Cellars in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Browne said all three partnerships offer exciting opportunities for Precept. The company recognizes the complexities of selling and marketing wines in a competitive market, and establishing partnerships with winemakers and wine industry veterans maximizes the potential for the wineries and the company, he added.
Browne founded Precept in 2002 and in five years the company has grown to include more than 25 brands and entered into 10 partnerships. Precept sold 600,000 cases of wine in 2007, making it the third-largest wine company in Washington.
Earlier this month, Precept Wine Brands bought the 500-acre Snipes Canyon Ranch between Prosser and Benton City and started building a 53,000-square-foot winery and production facility on 70 acres near Walla Walla that will be called Walla Walla Wine Works.
To see more of the Tri-City Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tri-cityherald.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 16-18, 2008. Los Angeles, California.
