On Friday, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates’ parent company, the tobacco giant Altria, announced its plans to sell Washington’s largest wine business to private equity firm Sycamore Partners Management for $1.2 billion.  Ste. Michelle is the third largest wine company in the U.S., according to the press release for Sycamore Partners, and it farms nearly 30,000 acres across the West.  Altria, which owns Philip Morris and other major tobacco brands, acquired Ste. Michelle in 2008, when it purchased the smokeless tobacco firm UST, which had owned the wine business since 1974.   New York-based Sycamore Partners specializes in retail and consumer businesses, […]