Iris owners Pamela Frye and Richard Boyles had been looking to sell Iris, including a Cottage Grove winery and all their inventory.
PORTLAND, Ore. — This story comes from the Portland Business Journal, a KGW News partner. You can find the full story, and other PBJ coverage, here.
A California wine company has acquired Iris Vineyards, aiming to apply its unique business model to the quarter-century-old South Willamette Valley brand.
And it’s “brand” that is the key word in this story.
Iris owners Pamela Frye and Richard Boyles, both age 68, had been looking to sell Iris — including a Cottage Grove winery and all their inventory — as they narrowed a business focus that includes Boyles’ leadership roles at Sycan B Corp, a real estate development and holding company, and Mereté Hotel Management.
But WarRoom Cellars was strictly interested in the brand and three key SKUs: pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay from the Willamette Valley appellation. That’s the deal that was made, at undisclosed terms.
In “the current environment” — it’s a buyers’ market for wine properties — Boyles said he and his wife realized that separating brand from winery represented their best path to an exit. The couple will continue to own their vineyards and surrounding estate, where they live, while Andy Steinman of Global Wine Partners, who advised on the WarRoom transaction, helps them find a buyer for the production facility.
WarRoom, meanwhile, is getting to work on the first Oregon brand in a lineup that is heavy on California with a touch of Washington state.
Some of the familiar names in the portfolio include Bonny Doon Vineyard, Lapis Luna, Lyeth Estate, Parducci Cellars and Toad Hollow Vineyards
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