US: Precept Wine buys Yakima Valley 'Skyfall' vineyard

(BizJournals) - Precept Wine has acquired 174 acres in the Yakima Valley that it will convert from a partial orchard to a vineyard planted with red-wine grapes.

Seattle-based Precept, a wine producer that operates vineyards across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, bought the land for an undisclosed sum from two brothers named Malli who live in California, said David Minick, Precept vice president of vineyard operations. The brothers owned it for three years, but found it difficult to be absentee owners, he said.

The property is located near Benton City, just south of Red Mountain, and is currently planted with 32 acres of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, Syrah, sauvignon blanc and Riesling grapes. The land also has 66 acres of sweet cherries and 22 acres of other fruit.

During the next three years, Precept will convert the land to more than 100 vineyard acres, keeping about 20 acres of sweet cherries. The company says it will focus on planting and replanting the red wine grapes and also plans to add Chardonnay lots.

“As a company, we have a lot of whites in the ground, so we were looking for more places to do reds,” Minick said.

The land is in a warm spot of the valley, he said, on a bluff above the Yakima River and gets a lot of sun reflection from Horse Heaven Hills on the south edge.