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
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates innovation hub offers greater consumer choice, more convenient delivery options
WOODINVILLE, Wash. (August 17, 2020) – ēlicit Wine Project, the innovation hub for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, today announced the launch of its new website and a groundbreaking new wine subscription service.
The ēlicit Wine Project website – elicit.wine – is the home for the entire ēlicit portfolio of brands.
The new website includes several consumer-friendly features.
Similar to shopping websites for other products, the ēlicit Wine Project website will help introduce new wines to customers through recommendations based on what others are shopping.
Recognizing that consumers now enjoy wine in a wide variety of settings, shoppers will also be able to browse not only by varietal or brand but also by occasion – “special occasions,” “weeknight hang,” “2020 survival,” and “day drinking” to start, with additional curated occasion selections to be introduced periodically.
The centerpiece of the new website is the new ēlicit Wine Project subscription service.
The subscription service offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing shoppers to customize the frequency, quantity, and specific wines for their subscription. The service also features unlimited delivery for just one cent per shipment for each 12-bottle case.
“ēlicit Wine Project was founded to quickly bring groundbreaking new products, brands, and consumer experiences to market,” said Cary Kloster, Senior Director of Innovation & Proprietary Brands for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
“The new website, powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce, delivers a truly cohesive shopping experience for every customer, with rich content and personalized shopping features that flow across online and in-person interactions,” said Alysa Taylor, CVP of Business Applications for Microsoft.
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates migrated all its brands to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce earlier this year.
“The new ēlicit Wine Project website and subscription service combine best-in-class features and benefits from across direct-to-consumer categories to deliver a new standard for the wine e-commerce experience,” said Miia Suortti, Director of Digital & E-commerce Marketing for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. “We believe our new website and subscription service offer the most consumer-friendly shopping experience in the wine industry.”
“The ēlicit Wine Project website and subscription service represent important milestones in our journey to modernize our marketing, while placing the consumer at the center of everything we do,” said Francis Perrin, Chief Marketing Officer for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. “By combining our world-class winemaking talent with modern digital marketing capabilities, we can deliver even greater value to consumers.”
Meanwhile the three latest releases from ēlicit Wine Project continue to roll out nationally. A launch event originally scheduled for March 12 in New York was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liquid Light™ – a vibrant, crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc from Washington State – was inspired by the recently-discovered fifth state of matter – liquid crystals. The wine also has just 105 calories, three grams of carbohydrates and less than one gram of sugar per five-ounce glass. Liquid Light™ retails for $13.99 per 750ml bottle.
Fruit & Flower™ includes a Chardonnay in 750ml bottles as well as Sparkling, Chardonnay, and Rosé in two-packs of 250ml cans. All three Fruit & Flower™ wines feature fruit-forward flavors, floral aromas, and highly-expressive, fruit and flower-themed packaging. The 750ml Chardonnay retails for $12.99 per bottle, and the 250ml cans retail for $10.99 per two-pack.
Altered Dimension™ – inspired by visually-intensive, perception-bending experiential art installations – is perhaps the most immersive visual experience ever committed to wine bottles. Altered Dimension™ is available in three striking package expressions – black (Cabernet Sauvignon), white (Sauvignon Blanc), and pink (Rosé) – all retailing for $14.99 per 750ml bottle.
Bottle images for Liquid Light™, Fruit & Flower™ and Altered Dimension™ can be found here.
The ēlicit Wine Project portfolio also includes Borne of Fire (elicit.wine/borneoffire), The Cosmic Egg Wine Co. (elicit.wine/cosmicegg), INTRINSIC™ Wine Co. (elicit.wine/intrinsic), MERF Wines (elicit.wine/merf), Prayers of Sinners & Saints (elicit.wine/sinnersandsaints), and Tenet Wines (elicit.wine/tenet).
Adding to its evolving portfolio, ēlicit Wine Project will announce two new projects in fall 2020. Future projects may also include exclusive offerings for the new website and subscription service.
About ēlicit Wine Project
ēlicit Wine Project is the innovation hub for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. Formed in 2019, ēlicit Wine Project delivers brands and products that provoke reactions and stir emotions. Grounded in rich consumer insights, ēlicit Wine Project leverages world-class winemaking and marketing talent to bring brands and products to life that don’t just respond to current consumer preferences but anticipate and create the consumer trends of the future. The ēlicit Wine Project portfolio of brands includes: Altered Dimension, ANEW, Borne of Fire, The Cosmic Egg Wine Co., Fruit & Flower, INTRINSIC™ Wine Co., Liquid Light, MERF Wines, Prayers of Sinners & Saints and Tenet Wines. For more information, please visit elicit.wine.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China on Tuesday launched an investigation into whether Australia is exporting wine at improperly low prices in a new dispute between major trading partners that could reduce access to the biggest market for Australian vintners.
The anti-dumping investigation focuses on wine in containers 2 liters (68 fluid ounces) or smaller, which accounts for most Australian exports, the Chinese Ministry for Commerce said. It said the probe was prompted by a complaint from Chinese wine producers in July, but gave no details.
The Australian government denied subsidizing exporters.
“We do find this deeply troubling, concerning and perplexing given Australia’s wine industry is not subsidized to export and it’s certainly not dumping product on the world market,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said. “Now it’s for China and Beijing to explain the rationale behind these actions and why they have moved to that stage of an investigation.”
A separate anti-dumping investigation closed the Chinese market to Australian barley in May through crippling tariffs after Australia supported calls for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing also blocked imports of beef from Australia's four biggest abattoirs.
Asked whether the latest probe was politically motivated, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was a “normal anti-dumping investigation” and told reporters not to “make unnecessary associations.”
"A sound and stable China-Australia relationship is in the common interests of the two countries, but it requires the joint efforts of both sides,” Zhao said.
Australia exported wine valued at 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($795 million) to China last year. Australia is the biggest supplier to the burgeoning Chinese wine market after France.
China drinks 39% of Australia's wine exports. The United States is the second-biggest customer, accounting for 15%, followed by Britain at 13%.
Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye warned in a newspaper interview in April that China might boycott Australian wine if Australia persisted with its call for a COVID-19 inquiry.
Asked if the wine investigation was a political tactic, Birmingham told reporters, “That’s really a question for China.”
Graeme Shaw, owner of Shaw Wines outside Canberra, said Chinese tariffs would have a considerable effect on large Australian wine producers.
“I think the industry should have been expecting something from the comments from the Chinese ambassador,” Shaw said.
Weihuan Zhou, a University of New South Wales international trade expert, said the wine probe was probably part of separate, decade-long trade dispute over anti-dumping rules, particularly Australia’s allegations about Chinese steel products.
Relations had improved after Australia distanced itself from U.S. security concerns over popular Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat, Zhou said.
“I don’t think it’s part of the previous political fight between Australia and China” over the coronavirus, Zhou said. “There have been positive signs of political improvement of the bilateral relationship.”
Shares in Australian wine exporter Treasury Wine Estates plunged as much as 17% on the Australian market on news of the investigation.
The Melbourne-based company reported to the Australian Securities Exchange in 2018 that it was one of several Australian exporters experiencing delays in getting wine through Chinese customs.
The company said in a statement to the exchange on Tuesday that it will “cooperate with any requests that we receive for information from Chinese or Australian authorities.”
Australia signed a free trade deal in 2015 with China, its biggest export market.
Zhou said he doubted China would target Australian wine in its diplomatic dispute because Chinese investors would be hurt.
“The Chinese investors are trying to secure a production base in Australia so that they can provide sufficient supply back to the Chinese market,” Zhou said.
Penalties on wine "will hurt the Chinese investors as well,” he said.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The 24-inch undercounter wine and beverage coolers accommodate a custom 5/8-inch to 3/4-inch depth overlay panel for a fully flush, built-in design. The panel-ready units are designed with a black toe kick and black zero-clearance hinges that will blend seamlessly with the cabinetry versus traditional stainless steel.
The coolers feature PreciseTemp™ temperature control and Active Cooling Technology to ensure the temperature stays at a consistent level. And a Vibration Dampening System helps mitigate the effects of any shaking floors or jostling furniture nearby to keep wine steady until the corks are ready to be popped.
Both coolers feature 3-Color LED lighting in Cloud White, Deep Blue, and Amber. The Presrv Panel Ready Wine & Beverage Coolers are designed with dual-pane, low-e argon filled glass to protect wine from sunshine and bright lights. Additional features include a reversible door, door-open alarm, electronic capacitive touch controls, and Sabbath Mode. Accessory handles are available in Brushed Gold, Matte Black, and Stainless Steel.
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SOURCE Zephyr
