Treasury sells portion of Beringer brand in St. Helena to The Wine Group

Treasury Wine Estates is selling a portion of its storied Beringer Vineyards brand in St. Helena to The Wine Group as the Australian-based company focuses on more premium brands.

Under the deal, Treasury will receive $100 million as The Wine Group will source and sell the Beringer Main & Vine, Founders’ Estate, Coastal Estate and Meridian labels.

Those brands totaled 2.3 million cases that generated $92 million in net sales revenue and $13.5 million of gross profit in the second half of 2020.

Treasury officials said they have no intention to sell other portions of the Beringer brand.

La Prenda Vineyards hired marketing manager

Crista Johnson has joined La Prenda Vineyards Management in Sonoma as its marketing manager.

Johnson has spent the last few years consulting in the wine industry after working six years overseeing the marketing department at Schug Carneros Estate Winery.

Besides providing vineyard services, La Prenda also produces its own wine brands including the Sonoma Collection label.

UC Davis wine expert to be honored

Anita Oberholster, a wine expert and professor in viticulture and enology at UC Davis, will receive an award for her work in June at the annual conference of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture.

Oberholster, who received her doctoral degree in wine sciences at the University of Adelaide, Australia, has become a noted expert on smoke exposure in the vineyard, which has affected the region in recent years as a result of recurring wildfires.

“I love science, agriculture and wine. My job is the perfect blend,” Oberholster said in a statement.

The annual enology and viticulture conference will take place virtually June 21-24.

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