German Winery Buys Part of Calif. Vineyard

Deinhard & Co., a large German wine producer and marketing company, has made its first American investment by becoming the majority partner in Concannon Vineyards in the Livermore Valley, it was announced Monday.

The announcement said Deinhard had agreed to acquire the majority share of the vineyard and winery to assist in concluding a deal announced earlier in which Guinness PLC of Great Britain sold the property to Concannon’s wine maker, Sergio Traverso. No price has been announced for the deal, but industry sources estimate the property sold for about $6 million.

Traverso said last March that he had agreed to acquire Concannon from Guinness, which is divesting itself of all its wine-related properties. However, that deal was contingent on financing, and Traverso said Monday that Deinhard agreed to be his partner in the winery.

“They (Deinhard) will be the majority owner, but I do have a substantial ownership,” said Traverso, who will retain the titles of president and wine maker.

“This is Deinhard’s first step into the United States” of an investment nature, said Traverso. “They have said they were looking for a property that would suit their standards and for a partner to operate that property and this was the right combination of factors.”

Concannon, founded in 1883, produces about 70,000 cases of wine annually. Included in the deal was the winery and 220 acres of land, 170 of them planted with premium wine grapes.

Traverso also said marketing of Concannon wines will be done by Halby-Miller, based in Santa Rosa.