(Courtesy Sagemoor Farms)

(Courtesy Sagemoor Farms)

Allan Brothers, one of the Yakima Valley’s most prominent fruit companies, is buying another well-known name, Sagemoor Vineyards, for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced Thursday. The transaction closes later in the month.

Naches-based Allan Brothers is a substantial tree-fruit grower and packer. The purchase of Sagemoor will add more than 800 acres of wine grapes and one of the Washington wine industry’s best known grape growers to the Allan portfolio.

“We have been looking at the Washington wine grape business for some time now and when the opportunity came up to acquire the well known Sagemoor properties we recognized that this was the right way for Allan Brothers to enter  Washington’s dynamic wine business,” said Miles Kohl, chief executive officer of Allan Brothers.

Allan is not signaling big changes to Sagemoor.

“We will maintain the same management team under the new ownership and that will allow for continuity of our quality programs in our vineyards and orchards,” said Kent Waliser, Sagemoor’s general manager.

The founding partners of Sagemoor are at the age, some in their 90s, when they need to think about succession plans,  Kent Waliser, general manager of Sagemoor, told the Yakima Herald. They chose Allan Brothers, which started in the 1920s, because the company is familiar with the region and puts an emphasis on quality, Waliser said.

“We were looking for a stable, new owner that believed in our business model and the way we do business,” Waliser told the Herald.

Sagemoor is regarded as one of the pioneers of the state wine industry.

Founded in 1968, Sagemoor grows grapes that are used in some of the most prestigious wineries, including Walla Walla Vintners, Tamarack Cellars, Barrister, Januik, Arbor Crest, Rasa Vineyards, Abeja and Hedges.

Sagemoor is made up of four properties under common management : Sagemoor, Bacchus, Dionysus and Weinbau, and is a  diversified farming operation with 883 acres of wine grapes, 230 acres of cherries and 190 acres of apples. Sagemoor grapes are sold to over 70 Washington wineries.

allan

Allan Brothers has a long and rich history in the Yakima Valley and has been growing, packing, and shipping  tree fruit products since the 1920’s. The Sagemoor Vineyards acquisition will increase the company’s holdings to 3,500 acres, located throughout the prime growing regions of Washington, from the Yakima Valley through the Columbia Valley.

International Wine Associates of Healdsburg, California and The West One Group in Walla Walla served as exclusive advisors and represented Sagemoor in this transaction.

Andy Perdue of Great Northwest Wine gives a history of the founding and growth of Sagemoor.

Good Fruit Grower published this 2010 obituary on Sagemoor co-founder Albert Ravenholt.