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The two most prominent wine companies in Lake County, the region just north of Napa County known for affordable wines like Sauvignon Blanc, are merging.
Clay and Angie Shannon, owners of the Shannon Ridge Family of Wines, an ambitious, fast-growing wine company, have purchased Steele Wines, Lake County's most recognizable wine brand, from its founder, Jed Steele. The deal closed on Monday and the terms were not disclosed.
“Jed is one of the patriarchs of this business,” said Clay Shannon. “He’s done a great job to promote our county, and we want to continue to push his legacy.” He added that it was “a very friendly deal,” and that he’s been trying to purchase Steele’s business for the past three years. But it was only in the last few months, when Steele decided he was ready to retire, that negotiations picked up.
The deal includes the Steele, Shooting Star, Stymie and Writer’s Block wine brands, all wine inventory and a large winery and tasting room in Kelseyville. The latter is one big reason Steele Wines appealed to Shannon. He plans to transform it into a “mixed-use mercantile,” he said, and hopes it will become the go-to destination in Lake County, about a three-hour drive from San Francisco.
“By springtime, you’ll see picnic areas, live music, movies on the side of the building, a petting zoo, a farmers’ market,” he said. Like V. Sattui or Long Meadow Ranch in Napa Valley, it will be “just a fun place to hang out, taste wine and bring the family.” Shannon raises grass-feed lamb and beef and chickens for organic eggs, all of which would be sold at the new farmstead.
“We’re going to be able to make some of our other dreams come true now,” Shannon said, adding that he has enjoyed selling lamb at the local farmers’ market with his granddaughters over the last several months.
Another reason for the purchase, Shannon said, was that his wine production is growing fast, and Steele’s facilities can help accommodate that growth. The Shannon Ridge Family of Wines includes several brands like Vigilance, Urgency, Ovis and Buck Shack, a total of about 310,000 cases. Steele Wines adds an additional 44,000 cases to that output, and also brings a 2,500-ton-capacity winemaking facility and a warehouse that can hold 6,000 barrels. Shannon Ridge will preserve Steele’s four wine brands, though it may “retool” them, Shannon said.
Steele Wines was founded in 1991 and gradually became the most famous Lake County wine brand. By then, Jed Steele was already an established winemaker, having begun his career at Stony Hill Vineyard in Napa Valley in 1968 and later becoming the head winemaker at Kendall-Jackson, whose now-famous Chardonnay was originally made with Lake County grapes. (Jackson Family Wines, Kendall-Jackson’s parent company, still owns a significant amount of acreage in the county.)
While Steele was getting his eponymous winery off the ground in the early 1990s, he was embroiled in a public battle with Kendall-Jackson’s owner, the late Jess Jackson. Steele sued Jackson, claiming he was due a $225,000 bonus. Jackson countersued, claiming that Steele had stolen trade secrets in the form of the secret formula for Kendall-Jackson’s Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay.
Over time, however, Steele Wines became a force in its own right, specializing in a range of wines beyond Chardonnay. Its flagship brand, Steele, focuses on higher-end bottlings, while Shooting Star represents the value-priced end of the spectrum.
Shannon Ridge’s acquisition of Steele does not include any land, though Shannon Ridge already owns about 900 vineyard agres, all certified sustainable or organic. In February, the company announced it had purchased the 27-acre Giannecchini Vineyard in Mendocino County.
The mercantile concept will come at an advantageous time for Lake County, Shannon said. During the COVID-19 shutdown, more people have begun spending time at vacation residences near Clear Lake and enjoying the quiet, off-the-beaten-path feel of Lake County. “It’s been good for our county,” he said. “Now we just need a fun place to host people.”
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
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August 19, 2020 at 07:24AM
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Lake County's Steele Wines is purchased by Shannon Ridge winery in major deal - San Francisco Chronicle
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