Wine Spectator: Charles Banks Firm Buys Big Stake in Napa’s Whetstone Cellars

Winery investor Charles Banks is making two moves with the hiring of one winemaker, Wine Spectator reports. Negotiations are still in progress, but Banks and Napa winemaker Jamey Whetstone are close to a deal that will see Banks’s firm, Terroir Selections, acquire major shares in both of Whetstone’s wine brands—Manifesto and Whetstone Wine Cellars—for an undisclosed price. At the same time, Banks is hiring Whetstone to be the winemaker for Evening Land Vineyards’ Sonoma operations (Banks, sommelier Rajat Parr and winemaker Sashi Moorman became minority partners in Evening Land and were hired to manage the Oregon-based company in February).

Terroir Selections will reportedly take a 50% share in Whetstone Wine Cellars and a roughly two-thirds share of Manifesto. “Charles and I have been trying to figure out how to work with each other for 11 years,” said Whetstone.

The Terroir Selections group also includes South African brands Mulderbosch, Fable and Marvelous, New Zealand winery Trinity Hill, California’s Sandhi, Leviathan, Qupé and Wind Gap, as well as Cultivate, which sources wine from multiple nations. Banks also co-owns Napa Valley’s Mayacamas Vineyards in a separate partnership.

Whetstone got his start at Turley Wine Cellars in 1998, and spent time working at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy before founding Whetstone with his wife, Michelle, in 2002. He produced his first three vintages at Turley, before leaving in 2005 to grow his own label. The small brand produces roughly 4,000 cases of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Viognier and Syrah from vineyard-designated sites in Sonoma and Napa.

Terroir Selections’ management sees growth potential in Whetstone’s Manifesto label, which retails for $12 to $18, and is available at Whole Foods Markets nationwide. Whetstone founded it with partners Henri Gabriel of Advintage Distributing and Peter Roy, former president and COO of Whole Foods, focusing on sustainably farmed wines with a value-friendly price tag. “Manifesto fits into our vision that wine is a grocery, not a luxury,” said Banks.

Tagged : wine, Wine Spectator

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