USA: Pine Ridge Winery, LLC Announces Intention To Sell California And Oregon Wineries

Pine Ridge Winery, LLC today announced that in response to several acquisition inquiries, it has decided to engage an investment banker to assist in the sale of Pine Ridge Winery, Napa Valley, California and its sister winery, Archery Summit, located in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Founded in 1978 by Gary and Nancy Andrus, Pine Ridge produces ultra premium, estate bottled wines from the Stags Leap, Carneros, Rutherford and Howell Mt. appellations in the Napa Valley and Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris in the Willamette Valley. The Company owns or leases over 300 acres (approximately 44 are leased) in the Napa Valley and 140 acres (approximately 21 are leased) in the Willamette Valley. The wineries presently produce approximately 80,000 cases per year and, when the vineyards reach full maturity, are expected to produce up to 125,000 cases per year. The wines are produced in two state of the art facilities and are sold internationally. "Nancy and I founded Pine Ridge in 1978 and since 1991 have been partners with Leucadia Cellars, a subsidiary of Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE). Since then, we have made major investments in Pine Ridge, established Archery Summit and have achieved our goals of producing the highest quality estate bottled wine. In light of the ongoing interest expressed by several parties in purchasing the winery, we hope to conclude this process by the end of the year," commented Gary Andrus, CEO and Executive Winemaker.