Shanken News Daily – Christine Jelski
Seattle-based Precept Wine recently made headlines with its acquisition of Idaho’s largest winery, Ste. Chapelle, from now-defunct Ascentia Wine Estates. The Ste. Chapelle deal has added 150,000 nine-liter cases to the Precept portfolio, which should surpass 900,000 cases by year-end, according to company founder and CEO Andrew Browne.
Precept was already present in Idaho with its Sawtooth brand ($10-$15), but the company has made a bigger bet on the state’s wine potential with Ste. Chapelle. “After spending time on Sawtooth, we became very enthusiastic about Ste. Chapelle’s potential,” says Browne. “We’ve found that Idaho is great for both red and white wines. Our experience there hearkens back to what we saw in Washington. The evolution of winemaking we’ve seen in Washington state is now happening in Idaho.”