Shannon Ridge Wines buys rival Lake County winery

Shannon Ride Wines of Lower Lake has acquired Steele Wines of Kelseyville, creating an even bigger Lake County wine empire for vintner Clay Shannon.

The deal, which closed on Monday, includes the Steele winery facilities and its diverse portfolio of brands such as Shooting Star, Stymie and Writer’s Block. The winery, founded in 1992, specializes in producing small-batch varietals under 1,000 cases sourced from vineyards in Lake and Mendocino counties.

Shannon has been perhaps the biggest booster of the Lake County wine sector owning 1,125 vineyard acres, much of it in high-elevation regions. He will convert the Steele Wines tasting room into a new Shannon Mercantile that will open next spring. It also will sell home goods and his ranch’s grass-fed lamb and eggs along with his wines.

Michael Browne launches new wine brand

Kosta Browne co-founder Michael Browne has launched wine brand, Chev, to complement his other brand, Cirq, from his estate winery in the Russian River Valley.

The two brands will be under the portfolio of Browne Family Wines and the hilltop winery plans to host tastings by the spring of 2021.

Feds offer flexibility to wineries in wildfire zones

The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau on Friday offered wineries affected by the wildfires help with any difficulty paying their federal excise taxes.

The bureau asked those affected to call 877-882-3277 with any questions that may apply to filing claims for taxes on losses caused by natural disasters as well as a waiver of excise tax penalties.

Compiled by Bill Swindell. Submit items to bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com.