Sonoma's Laurel Glen Vineyard Sold

[Melanie Wong]

Just found this email in my inbox:

Dear Friends,

My apologies for the impersonal nature of this announcement, but as you can imagine, but I did want close and old friends to know the news before the press releases come out.

I have sold Laurel Glen Vineyard to Bettina Sichel, a member of the prominent Bordeaux and German family, that has been involved in the wine world for generations. I have been working on this sale for over three years, and after many hiccups and detours it has finally happened.

With thirty-five years of farming Laurel Glen under my belt, I had simply gotten about as much intellectual interest and satisfaction out of the vineyard and winery as I was ever going to get. Furthermore, during the past twenty years, my heart has been ncreasingly taken with the projects I had been developing in Lodi and Argentina, and it became ever more obvious that it was time to move on.

I will continue with the REDS, ZaZin!, Terra Rosa, Tierra Divina, Vale la Pena, and Chévere wines, now with less distraction and more focus, under the new company name: Tierra Divina Vineyards.

Thanks for your help, interest, and support along the long journey. Rest assured that the best is yet to come!

Cheers, Patrick

(Below is a link to the first press reference to the sale):
http://wildernapavalley.squarespace.c...

[maria lorraine]

Thanks for the news, Melanie. I've admired Patrick for years.

[Melanie Wong]

Here's the PD piece
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/...
The estimated price of $4-5 mil seems low but I guess that's where the market is today.