Northwest Winery Dealings Continue

(Wines&Vines) - Constellation Brands Canada has quietly sold its shares in a joint venture with France’s Groupe Taillan in the latest deal to ripple through the Northwest wine industry this year.

A deal value wasn’t disclosed for the transaction, which saw the acclaimed Osoyoos Larose venture become solely owned by Groupe Taillan.

Osoyoos Larose was launched in 1998 as a joint venture between Vincor International and Groupe Taillan. Bordeaux winemaker Pascal Madevon, who had overseen winemaking at the property since 2000, left earlier this year to become winemaker at Oliver, B.C.-based Culmina Family Estate Winery, the latest venture of former Vincor president and CEO Don Triggs.

Constellation acquired Osoyoos Larose and its 80-acre site on the east side of Lake Osoyoos with its purchase of Vincor in 2006.

The winery

Osoyoos Larose has garnered much acclaim for its Bordeaux-style wines during the past 15 years, and Madevon was impressed with the potential for the project from the initial vintage in 2001, made when the vines were just in their second year.

While it doesn’t boast a destination winery, Osoyoos Larose nevertheless has quietly shown the potential of the region, which Groupe Taillan favoured because of its arid climate and lack of grapevine diseases that allowed for optimal control of the maturation process.

Speaking with Wines & Vines, Triggs said Groupe Taillan’s decision to assume full ownership of the property could only mean good news for the B.C. wine industry. “An owner of major high-end chateaus in France making a bigger investment in the B.C. wine industry has to be a very good thing,” he said. While he was unable to comment on the evolution of the venture and Constellation’s divesting itself of its stake, Triggs said Groupe Taillan’s increasing commitment to the province’s wine industry is “very positive.” Groupe Taillan hasn’t disclosed what changes or investments it might make in the property now that it has sole ownership, saying in a statement only that it “is pursuing its development strategy in the wine industry and is leading the new team in its drive to position Osoyoos Larose as the next standard in great Canadian red wines.”