Ste. Michelle Wine Estates acquired by one of its top growers

The Wyckoff Family, which owns vineyards across Washington, has purchased all wine brands, facilities and vineyards belonging to wine giant Ste. Michelle.

Grape grower and custom wine company Wyckoff has acquired Ste. Michelle from private equity firm Sycamore Partners. When Sycamore purchased Ste. Michelle in 2021 for US$1.2 billion, it became the largest private equity purchase of a US wine company in history.

Included in the Wyckoff deal are all of Ste. Michelle’s wine brands, as well as its facilities and vineyards in Washington. Brands include Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Columbia Crest, Liquid Light, Estival, Ethos, Spring Valley Vineyard, and Northstar from Washington State. Ste. Michelle also serves as the sales agent for A to Z Wineworks, Erath, and Rex Hill from Oregon.

“Ste. Michelle has been the long-term driving force behind Washington’s wine industry,” said Court Wyckoff, CEO of Wyckoff Farms and Coventry Vale Winery. “As partners since the early 1980’s, we deeply believe in Ste. Michelle Wine Estates’ outstanding portfolio of iconic Northwest wine brands. We look forward to working with the Ste. Michelle team to build on its leadership, invest in winemaking quality, and champion Washington’s wine grape growers and Washington wine to consumers across the country.”

Founded in 1950, the Wyckoff businesses produce premium wine grapes, wines, and other agriculture products and has in fact been one of Ste. Michelle’s top growers for more than four decades, supplying grapes from its vineyards in the Wahluke Slope, Yakima Valley, and Horse Heaven Hills AVAs.

Sustained growth

“Our team is thrilled to welcome family ownership with deep roots in Washington’s wine and grape-growing community who share our vision for sustained growth and our uncompromising commitment to wine quality,” said David Bowman, Co-CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.

Fellow co-CEO Anna Mosier added that “Like them [the Wyckoff Family], we will now be a family-owned endeavour focused on making the right long-term decisions for Ste. Michelle and for the Washington wine and grape growing industry.”

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is widely considered to have been the first premium wine company in Washington state, and today exports its wines to more than 100 countries.

As db reported last year, the winery has been putting its money behind Chenin Blanc in recent years. “If there’s a grape that has huge potential in Washington then it’s Chenin Blanc,” chief commercial officer David Bowman said. “We grow great Chenin Blanc in Washington – we’ve made it for dozens of years – and I think there is an opportunity, because there’s isn’t really a region in the US that is known for Chenin Blanc, and I think that Washington can take a leadership position in that.”