Carl Doumani, a well known Napa Valley vintner and figure, has sold his current winery venture, Quixote, to Melange, an American company owned by a Chinese firm. This was first reported in the Wine Spectator blog by James Laube. The property was listed by Cyd Greer, an agent my company for $29,950,000 and according to James, sold for close to $29,500,000. From his blog:
According to sources familiar with Asian investments in Napa Valley, Le Melange is owned by a Chinese company called Gold Tower Group, based in Jilin province, that specializes in hot peppers and hot pepper products. Another subsidiary of Gold Tower Group, Jinta Vineyards and Winery, bought Hannah Nicole Vineyards and Winery in Contra Costa early in 2013. Gold Tower Group is privately owned and its executives could not be reached for comment.
I came across the sale in a story by Paul Franson in the Napa Valley Register, an excellent source for wine, vineyard & winery news and going-ons. This is the 7th winery that I know about being sold to Asian interests in the last 3 years. The Chinese account for most of these sales, 4 that I know about, followed 2 to Hong Kong interest and 1 to a Korean group. These are the ones that make the papers and there are probably at least this number that don’t. I think I will need to learn to say cheers in Chinese. Photo from Cyd Greer’s website.
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Does anybody know the approximate yield per acre and value of the grapes produced from this parcel?