Panther Creek in "Seattle’s Ackley Beverage Buys..." | Great Northwest Wine
Investment grows in Northwest wineries
Panther Creek Cellars founder Ken Wright shares some history of the brand with Sam Bronfman, co-founder and managing partner of Bacchus Capital Management, and winemaker Tony Rynders in Portland at The Imperial Hotel. (Photo by Chris Bidelman/Courtesy of Bacchus Capital Management)
Panther Creek Cellars founder Ken Wright shares some history of the brand during a news conference with Sam Bronfman, co-founder and managing partner of Bacchus Capital Management, center, and Panther Creek winemaker Tony Rynders during at 2015 event in Portland. (Photo by Chris Bidleman/Courtesy of Bacchus Capital Management)
Tuesday’s announcement is another example of continued outside investment in the Pacific Northwest wine industry. Jackson Family Wines has added several wineries and vineyards in Oregon, including Penner-Ash Wine Cellars and WillaKenzie Estate just this year. Famed Burgundy producer Maison Louis Jadot bought Resonance Vineyard in 2013. Gallo purchased Columbia Winery and Covey Run in 2012.
Bacchus Capital Management, with offices in Manhattan and San Francisco, has invested in both DeLille Cellars in Woodinville, Wash., and Dobbes Family Estate in Dundee, Ore., while also buying historic Panther Creek Cellars, also in Dundee.
Crimson Wine Group in California, which owns revered Archery Summit in the Dundee Hills and Double Canyon winery and vineyard in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills, purchased Seven Hills Winery earlier this year.
In 2014, Foley Family Wines purchased Four Graces in the Dundee Hills to pair with Three Rivers Winery in the Walla Walla Valley. DrinkSpace, a sales and marketing group in Redmond, Wash., has partnerships with six Northwest labels. Four are in Washington state — Luke Wines, Milbrandt Vineyards, Renegade Wine Co., and Zero One — and the two in Southern Oregon are Paul O’Brien and RoxyAnn Winery. DrinkSpace recently ended its partnership with four other Washington brands.