Private Equity Firm Preserves Family Legacy By Keeping Signature On Label

Pledging to honor 46 years of family stewardship, the Chicago private equity firm that acquired a Dry Creek Valley winery for $61 million said Thursday it will preserve the founder’s legacy by keeping his signature on the label, sources confirmed.

The signature has been vectorized and filed as a trademark. The founder was not retained.

“What drew us to this asset in the first place was the family story, and we understood immediately that the story is the value here — you don’t buy something like this and then take a red pen to it,” said partner Preston Gilliam, adding that the firm had spent four months studying the estate’s heritage before making a single operational change. “Everything that made this brand what it is, we’ve protected. The name is the same. The signature is the same. The label stock is the same weight, which you’d be surprised how much people notice.”

Fruit sourcing moved to Lodi in August. The estate’s 12 employees were consolidated into a shared services team in Sacramento. The tasting room remains open Thursday through Sunday.

At press time, the firm had begun licensing the signature to a canned wine line produced in Modesto.