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# Ste. Michelle to Trim Grape Purchases 40%
- URL: https://bevnews.net/ste-michelle-to-trim-grape-purchases-40/
- Published: 2023-08-04T03:34:03.000Z
- Updated: 2023-08-04T03:34:03.000Z
- Author: Joel Whitaker
- Tags: Acquisitions

**Ste. Michelle Wine Estates** plans to reduce total anticipated grape supply by 40% over the next five years, and has begun negotiating with individual growers over contracts it no longer wishes to continue.

News of Ste. Michelle's cutback was delivered at a meeting with growers, according to Sean P. Sullivan, who first reported it in his *Northwest Wine Report*. Also attending the meeting was Sean Conway, Ste. Michelle's new CEO who was hired in March, the company's CFO and a representative from **Sycamore Partners**, the private equity firm that purchased the winery in 2021.

What does a 40% reduction mean for Ste. Michelle and the industry? In 2017, Ste. Michelle contracted with 35,000 of Washington's 50,000 acres. A 40% reduction means Ste. Michelle would go from using about 35,000 acres to potentially 18,000 acres in less than 10 years time.