Cecchetti Wine Co. of Sonoma is merging with the U.S. marketing arm of German vintner Racke GmbH + Co. KG, the North Bay Business Journal reports.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Roy Cecchetti will become co-president of the new company, called Cecchetti Racke. Marian Kopp, president of Sonoma-based Racke USA, will become co-president for international sales and marketing, as well as president of Racke’s Golden Kaan brand.
Cecchetti Racke will have projected annual sales of $8.4 million and production of 140,000 cases this year.
The brands in the new company include Cecchetti’s Lake County-focused Line 39 — recently featured by Vinesse — and Racke’s joint-venture brands Golden Kaan from South Africa, produced with KWV; Espiritu de Chile and Espiritu de Argentina, made with Aresti; and Vitae from Italy, made with Torrevento.
Also part of the portfolio is Redtree, a line of wines with a California appellation.
Cecchetti, who created the Pepperwood Grove wine brand with its current owner, Don Sebastiani, dissolved Cecchetti-Sebastiani Cellar in 2001. Roy and Rachael Cecchetti started Cecchetti Wine Co. in 2007, while Sebastiani started Don Sebastiani & Sons with sons Donny and August.
