High-end wine business Marchesi Frescobaldi has made a first foray outside its native Italy with the acquisition of a majority stake in Oregon winery Domaine Roy & fils.
The company said it had signed a definitive agreement to purchase Domaine Roy, which has 40 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The transaction, for an undisclosed sum, is expected to close by the end of July.
“At this stage of our expansion we decided to seize the opportunity to acquire the beautiful Domaine Roy & fils winery in Oregon, one of the best regions in the world for Pinot Noir,” said Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of Marchesi Frescobaldi.
Domaine Roy & fils was founded in 2012 by a consortium led by Marc-André Roy and Jared Etzel, sons of the founders of another high-end Oregon winery, Beaux Frères.
The company has 35 acres of Pinot Noir and 5 acres of Chardonnay, divided between the Iron Filbert vineyard in the Dundee Hills AVA, and the Quartz Acorn vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA.
Under the terms of the deal, Marc-André Roy will retain a minority stake in the business, taking on joint leadership of the winery with the Frescobaldi family as a member of the board of directors.
News of the acquisition comes 10 months after another Oregon winery, A to Z Wineworks, was acquired by US wine group Ste Michelle Wine Estates, now owned by New York-based private equity group Sycamore Partners.
