Canopy Management, founded by industry veterans Terry Wheatley and Brian Wurtz in 2008, produces a portfolio of popular, award-winning, nationally distributed wines including Middle Sister, Monogamy, PromisQous, Purple Cowboy, Wine Sisterhood, Deep Purple, Girl & Dragon and Lady La Femme. In addition, the company has built one of the wine industry’s top social media networks, Wine Sisterhood, with close to half a million fans.
“The acquisition fills a vital strategic role within the Vintage family of prestige wines.” said Pat Roney, President of Vintage Wine Estates. “Canopy’s powerhouse lifestyle brands, sales, marketing and social media expertise and strong retail partner and distributor relationships add tremendous value to our portfolio.”
This is just the latest acquisition by Vintage Wine Estates. In August, 2013 the company purchased the iconic property, Clos Pegase, which included the 25,000-case winery near Calistoga, 215 acres of vineyards, the brand and inventory. Just two months later, VWE purchased Viansa in Sonoma. The purchase included the winery and hospitality facility, the brand and inventory, plus the 168-acre property, which includes wetlands and 14 acres of vineyards.
The Canopy purchase includes brand licensing and trademarks. Terry Wheatley, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, joins Vintage Wine Estates as Executive Vice President Sales and Wholesale Marketing. Brian Wurtz, President will orchestrate the orderly transition of wine supply, distributors, exporters, and customers during the initial phase of consolidation.
“I am extremely happy that the Canopy brands will now be a part of the VWE portfolio as they enter into the next phase of growth.” said Mr. Wurtz. “I’m proud to see the company that Terry, I and our team have built from the ground up move into an exciting new phase. I am looking forward to helping facilitate the transition process.”
Nancy Walker has been appointed head winemaker for the new endeavor, as part of the Vintage Wine Estates winemaking team headed by Marco DiGiulio, and will take over all sourcing and winemaking for the Canopy portfolio of wines. Nancy has a distinguished 20-plus year career in winemaking, having worked as winemaker for Vintage Wine Estates, Grove Street Winery, The Winery Exchange, Fetzer Vineyards and her own cult wine – Stephen & Walker.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Vintage Wine Estates is a privately owned company with a family of wineries from Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino. The company is based in Santa Rosa and is committed to producing high quality and great value wines for every occasion. In addition to this new purchase, the Vintage Wine Estates portfolio includes Girard Winery, Clos Pegase Winery, Cosentino Winery, Viansa Winery, Windsor Vineyards, Sonoma Coast Vineyards, Cartlidge & Browne Winery, and Ray’s Station.
