Kendall-Jackson Winery in Deal to Buy Edmeades

Kendall-Jackson Winery of Lakeport, Calif., said Thursday that it has agreed to buy Edmeades Vineyards in Mendocino County, the second major purchase by the Lake County winery in the past year, and said it has made offers to buy two more wineries.

No price on the Edmeades purchase was revealed, but an industry source said the sale price was probably about $750,000.

Kendall-Jackson owner Jess Jackson, a San Francisco lawyer, said Martin Adams, former president of Sebastiani Vineyards, had been hired as chief executive.

Adams said a purchase agreement was signed to buy the 16-year-old facility and that the deal would close in August.

Included in the Edmeades purchase is a winery building and 37 acres of vineyard land in Philo in the Anderson Valley. The vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. No inventory was included in the sale.

Kendall-Jackson also owns 85 acres of vineyards near its Lake County winery and in April it closed a deal in which it acquired about 65% of the Tepusquet Vineyard in Santa Barbara County, about 575 acres of vineyard.