Napa’s Trinchero winery buys Mason Cellars

Trinchero Family Estates (TFE) has acquired California’s Mason Cellars, owners of Pomelo and Three Pears wines, as it continues to raise its premium offer.

Trinchero Family Estates is the second largest family-owned winery in the US

Mason Cellars, based in California, was founded in 1993 by winemaker Randy Mason and wife Megan Mason. Its Pomelo brand comprises of a Sauvignon Blanc and a Rosé, made from Grenache and Syrah, while its Three Pears brands includes a Pinot Grigio. Mason Cellars meanwhile counts a Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon in its portfolio, made with grapes sourced from Napa Valley.

Trinchero Family Estates is the second largest family-owned wine company in the US and owns brands including Sutter Home, Ménage à Trois, Trinchero Napa Valley, Napa Cellars, Folie à Deux, Terra d’Oro and SeaGlass.

“We are delighted to bring Mason Cellars into our family, and in doing so add to the breadth and depth of our collection of brands,” said Bob Torkelson, president and COO of Trinchero Family Estates.

“TFE remains committed to diversifying our portfolio in a way that supports our mission to be consumer-driven and consistently offer quality and value. The wines of Mason Cellars are unique and have demonstrated great success in the market, thus offering a significant addition to the ever-growing portfolio of premium and luxury wine at TFE.”

Randy Mason will continue to be involved in the production and promotion of Mason wines for Trinchero Family Estates.

PREMIUM PUSH

Trinchero’s acquisition of Mason Cellars chimes with a wider trend among producers, particularly in the US, to premiumise their offer in response to growing demand for wine within the super-premium ($7-10) and ultra-premium ($10-15) segments of the US market.

In 2015, The premium-and-above wine segment held a 20.7% share, compared to a 13.3% share in 2005, according to the IWSR statistics.

Several big brands have responded to this, including E&J Gallo, which, similarly to Trinchero, has been working to premiumise its offer in recent years and consolidate its position as one of the biggest producers in Napa. In December 2015, the company tripled its production capacity in the Napa Valley with purchase of The Ranch Winery – a custom grape-crush facility with a capacity of 30,000 tons.

This followed acquisitions of vineyards in the region in the preceding year, which included its purchase of Talbott Vineyards in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands and sparkling wine specialist J Vineyards & Winery, a deal that included the Healdsburg winery and 121 hectares of vineyards in Sonoma and the Russian River Valley.

Two months later it bought two vineyard sites in the Napa Valley – Cypress Ranch and part of the Palisades Vineyard near Calistoga.

Likewise, but not exclusive to the US market, Treasury Wine Estates has been gradually off-loading “non-priority” brands in order to focus on its high-end ranges.

This year the company, having acquired Diageo’s wine business in the US, consolidated its winemaking in California, with its luxury wine production centred on the Beringer winery, and Paso Robles winery taking on its ‘masstige’ wine brands.