The 1,200 acre Jepson Winery in northern California’s wine country in Mendocino County has been sold to Ken and Diane Wilson of Sonoma County. The terms of the deal are unknown, though it is known that the property was on the market nine months ago for $10.5 million. The Wilsons are well established in the industry in neighboring Sonoma County, with four higher-end wineries there: Mosaic, Matrix, Mazzocco, and Wilson. The couple also has plans to refurbish the Jimtown winery, Soda Rock. The 1,200 acre acquisition expands their wineries to a total of five, adding 120 acres of currently planted vineyards to their previous holdings of 2,000 acres of which 250 held producing vineyards. Equally as exciting to the Wilsons is the fact that the property comes with the rare benefit of also have a distiller’s license and with that they plan to produce brandy on-site.
The Wilsons are well known around the local wineries in Sonoma County for controversy as well as quality wine products. Ten years ago Ken Wilson’s name was on the wine community’s tongues for having paid the most substantial fine in the area - $50,000, for polluting the local river while developing one of his properties near Lake Sonoma. But the Wilsons have moved beyond those issues to create a name for their vineyards with quality wine production. Both Ken and Diane regularly win wine making awards at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, likely a result of the fact that they control all of their own grape production. They also manage their sales closely, selling exclusively through on-site retail, their tasting rooms, and their wine clubs.
