11.17.2011  
 

Flanagan Buys Vineyard for $4.5 Million

Former owner founded St. Francis Winery

 
by Wines & Vines staff
 
Windsor, Calif.Eric Flanagan, owner of Flanagan Family Vineyards, purchased a 56-acre ranch in Windsor from Joe Martin, founder of St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, in a deal finalized Nov. 15, according to John Bergman of real estate brokerage firm Bergman Euro-National. Flanagan paid $4.5 million cash for the property, which includes 29 acres planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines.

Flanagan currently produces 1,200 cases of Cabernet, Chardonnay and Syrah from the Bennett Valley appellation in Sonoma County, according to WinesVinesDATA. He told Wines & Vines that 23.5 acres are planted to five clones of Chardonnay at the new site and 5.5 are planted to Pinot.

"We had a very small crop of Pinot this year," said Flanagan, who estimates the 2011 yield at 1 ton per acre and hopes to see 2.5 tons per acre in the future. "I sold about a ton of it to a friend of mine, and I am aging two lots of it separately. I've got about 10 barrels of Pinot in the building, and it will be fun to blend and see how they come together."

The newly purchased ranch on Starr Road also has a 3,500-square-foot Mediterranean-style home, pool and cabana as well as a pond covering more than an acre.

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