Pinnacle Vineyards Buys 43% Of Donati Family Vineyards

Approximately 43% of Donati Family Vineyards — 444 acres — has been sold to Doug Circle, Principal of Pinnacle Vineyards, LLC according to a news release from Zepponi & Company which served as advisor on the deal.

No brand or winery-related assets were included in the transaction and financial terms were not disclosed.

The 1,024-acre property is located in California’s Paicines American Viticulture Area (AVA), approximately 27 miles east of Monterey Bay in San Benito County and has approximately 376 acres of vineyard planted to premium red and white varietals.

Approximately 580 acres, including 47 acres of vineyard along with an estate residence, will remain with the Donati Family, who plan to develop additional acreage in 2012 for the purpose of continuing the Donati Family Vineyard brand. The brand’s short-term grape needs will be satisfied via a grape buyback agreement which was negotiated with Pinnacle Vineyards, LLC.

The Donati family purchased the property in the late 1990’s and began producing ultra-premium wines from the vineyard in 2005 under the Donati Family Vineyards label. Since 2003 the vineyard has also supplied grapes to several major wine producers.

Attorneys Neil Taxy of Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Matzger & Meinick LLP in San Francisco and Kevin DeBorde of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty in Napa provided legal advisory services on the transaction.

Zepponi & Company provides merger and acquisition, valuation and transactional advisory services to the global wine industry. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, the company specializes in advising on ultra-premium and luxury brands, estate wineries and vineyards, such as Chalk Hill Estate, Four Vines, Black Stallion, Kuleto Estate and Murphy‑Goode Estate. The principals collectively share over seventy-five years of wine industry experience and $900 million in completed transactions. For more information, please visit www.zepponi.com.