Bacchus Capital Management first tapped into Oregon's wine country by investing in Dundee-based Wine by Joe in 2011.

It's expanded its Oregon portfolio twice in 2012 — making a follow-on investment in Wine by Joe in February and this monthacquiring the Panther Creek Cellars brand.

The investments came from Bacchus Capital's inaugural $50 million fund, which seeded Bacchus' portfolio of eight West Coast wineries and brands. With that fund nearly depleted and Bacchus seriously considering raising a second fund, it seemed worth checking in with co-founder and Managing Partner Sam Bronfman to see if the firm might ...

In a move that strengthens its position in the Oregon wine industry, New York-based private equity firm Bacchus Capital Management said Wednesday it has purchased the well-regarded Panther Creek Cellars wine brand, which is based in McMinnville. Terms were undisclosed. Seller Liz Chambers, however, will hold onto the winery and produce under a new label with Michael Stevenson, Panther Creek's current winemaker. Industry publication Wine Spectator said the new label will be called Elizabeth Chambers…

Thanks to a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, Northwest winemaker Precept Wine expects to pass the 1-million-case mark in 2013, co-founder and CEO Andrew Browne tells Shanken News Daily.

“A rising tide lifts all boats, and in the Northwest wine industry—whether it’s Idaho, Oregon or Washington—we’ve got a rising tide,” Browne says.

Seattle-based Precept’s portfolio consists of labels from Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Key brands driving growth are its Washington-sourced labels Chocolate Shop ($12-$15) and Radius ($10).

Chocolate Shop, which launched in 2011 as one of the pioneers in the “chocolate wine” segment ...

It's an enormous number by Oregon standards, considering that the average vineyard in the state is 24 acres, according to Charles Humble of the Oregon Wine Board. He noted that even the state's largest winery, King Estate, is just 500 acres in size.

Welcome back to Take Five, a fresh Eat Beat feature that offers up five must-try culinary finds from food and drink experts around town. Next up, think pink...

Wine fanatic Jeffrey Weissler has spent the last five years chronicling the best of the world's sustainable wines and wineries on his website consciouswine.com, but his real passion lies in face-to-face celebration of the goods in the glass with good friends and good food. Inspired to make that passion a daily reality, Weissler took the leap from digital denizen to brick-and-mortar shop owner this year.

His irreverent, education-centric wine shop ...

Lifelong luxury hotelier Pierre Zreik has spent much of his career in the Willamette Valley, and it seems as if the acclaimed Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg will keep him in Oregon wine country well beyond the resort’s fourth anniversary in September.

Pierre Zreik is managing director of The Allison Inn & Spa and was the first employee hired by owner Joan Austin.

“We are surrounded by close to 200 wineries,” said Zreik, the resort’s managing director. “Oregon has over 530 wineries. I recall when I came here in 1994, there were only 72 wineries. I remember that vividly ...

If you enjoy white wines, particularly fruit-forward wines that are highly aromatic with floral notes, viognier, a grape variety common in France’s Rhone region, may just be what you’re looking for.

In France, most viogniers are sold as Vin de Pays in the Languedoc region. In Rhone, viognier is often used as a blending grape with Roussane, Marsanne and Grenache blanc, according to Professional Friends of Wine.

In America, you’ll find viognier from the central coast region of California. Although the acreage planted with viognier grapes in Oregon (a mere 210 acres in 2011 according to the ...

WHY IS PORTLAND, ORE., such a great food city? I put the question to a restaurant critic friend. Because of Oregon Pinot Noir, he said. This seemed like a plausible explanation. After all, many great food cities are near great wine regions. But that wasn't what my friend meant. It was because Pinot Noir was such a great food wine.

But why is Portland such a great wine city? Much less has actually been said about that. And yet Portland has lots of impressive restaurant wine lists and first-rate shops with interesting wines from all over the world. In ...

ON A DAMP, CHILLY April afternoon, Philippe Drouhin poured out two glasses of 2005 Joseph Drouhin Clos des Mouches Blanc and surveyed the vineyard that produced the grapes, unfurling on the slope below us. Ominous clouds were moving in, but in the event of lightning I felt quite safe standing beside the 6-foot-6 Mr. Drouhin, who is part of the fourth generation of Maison Joseph Drouhin. This vineyard is the core of the domaine, assembled from 41 different parcels by his grandfather Maurice in the 1930s. Philippe, who is responsible for viticulture, clearly feels a strong bond to this site ...

Memorial Day weekend is a great time for a little wine-tasting and Silverton and Mount Angel residents are fortunate to have a several charming local wineries to visit.

One winery that is slightly off the beaten path, but close to home, is Hanson Vineyards on Barlow Road in Monitor. Nestled in between Butte Creek and the surrounding farmland, this 15-acre estate winery and vineyard gives you a good vibe as soon as you turn in at the historic red barn, which happens to be a prominent part of the distinctive Hanson Vineyards logo.

One of the smallest wineries in Oregon ...

Dubbed Ne Plus Ultra, meaning “the highest point” in Latin, the 2011 Pinot Noir hails from the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

For Pickett, it could only ever have been Pinot – his protagonist Miles in Sideways is obsessed with the temperamental grape variety, waxing lyrical about its delicate beauty throughout the book.

“When I decided to produce my own wine, I knew immediately it would be a Pinot Noir, the grape variety so rhapsodically celebrated in Sideways,” Pickett said.

“I looked to the Willamette, home to some of the worlds finest Pinot, and the stage on which the misadventures of Miles ...

NW Wine Co. kicked off the year by spending $3.87 million to buy two Willamette Valley vineyards.

The Wildewood and Domaine Loubejac properties near Monmouth comprise 385 acres of pinot noir and pinot gris plantings. That’s in addition to 185 acres (an acre is the area of a football field) under the company’s control near McMinnville.

The company also operates a 45,000-square-foot winery and 15-acre vineyard at its home in Dundee.

The purchase obviously signifies growth for NW Wine, making it No. 2 in the state for planted vineyards, behind Duck Pond. Between the winery and ...