Vintage Wine Estates has confirmed the divestment of its Tenma Vineyard in California.
A total of 42 acres, located in Calistoga in Napa Valley, has been sold. The transaction, to an unnamed buyer, has brought in “approximately” US$11m for the company.
Subsequent to the offload, Vintage Wine Estates will buy up to 15 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Tenma’s new owner “at no cost in the first year”. The group owns around 1,600 acres of vineyard with a further 800 acres leased.
“The Tenma Vineyard sale demonstrates our ongoing commitment to monetize assets in an effort to reduce debt and provide us with additional financial flexibility,” said interim CEO Jon Moramarco. “We will continue to pursue more of these initiatives where the economics are beneficial, as part of our recently announced business realignment plan.”
Moramarco assumed the CEO position on a temporary basis last month when co-founder Pat Roney moved to become chairman. The news coincided with a restatement of Vintage Wine Estates’ fiscal-first-quarter results, on the basis of “the misclassification and accounting for certain assets and also the timing of recording certain costs”.
