Ken Wright Cellars, one of Oregon’s best-known pinot noir producers, has sold a stake in its business to the Gussalli Beretta family of Italy, which is best known for making Beretta firearms. Through its wine holding company, Upifra Agricole, the family will take a minority stake in the winery in Carlton and majority ownership of Ken Wright’s real estate.
The deal covers three vineyards that Wright owns, Carter, Canary Hill and Savoya, and the family will also take over long-term agreements for 11 other vineyard sites. It includes several buildings in Carlton, including the winemaking facilities and the winery’s tasting room at 120 N. Pine St., in a historic 1920s train depot. Wright will lease the properties back, so the tasting room and the winemaking operation will continue as they are.
Wright, 72, will stay on as winemaker and head of the company, and the team and the way the winery is run are not changing. He founded Panther Creek Cellars in 1986, sold it and launched Ken Wright Cellars in 1994, and he has built a reputation for vineyard-designated pinot noir. His son, Carson Wright, is the winery’s president of sales…