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More for Jackson in Mac

California wine magnate tied to buyers of downtown landmark

By OWP Staff

Family members of California’s Jackson Family Wines, which has been moving aggressively into the Oregon wine scene, have purchased downtown McMinnville’s historic Taylor Hardware building, located at 608 Third St.

Jeff Dale, who inherited the building when his father, Ethan, died last year, announced July 19 sale of the property to Katie Jackson and Shaun Kajiwara of Healdsburg, California.

Jackson is the oldest daughter of Barbara Banke and the late Jess Jackson, founders of Jackson Family Wines. She serves as the company’s vice president of sustainability and external affairs, and Kajiwara manages the company’s extensive Mendocino County vineyard holdings.

Despite the close association, the couple made the purchase through a new, independent corporate entity — the Historic 3rd & Ford LLC. Dale was represented in the sale by his former sister-in-law, Joy Dale of Knipe Realty in Newberg.

Jackson Family Wines, based in Santa Rosa, California, owns 12,500 acres of vineyard land in California, along with numerous production facilities. It markets wine nationally and internationally under more than 35 wine brand names, the best known being Kendall-Jackson.

The company began making its first inroads into the Willamette Valley in 2013. In March of that year, Jackson Family acquired the first two of three parcels of Zena Crown Vineyard, located in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area), and Maple Grove Vineyard, a 655-acre former Christmas tree farm southwest of Monmouth.

In May 2013, the company announced the purchase of the final parcel at Zena — the three blocks total 80 acres of vines — as well as Gran Moraine, a 200-acre vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Three months later, Jackson Family bought Solena Estate’s 15,000-case winery plus 35 acres of adjacent vines outside Yamhill; this location now serves as the Gran Moraine tasting room and production facility.

Fast-forward to January 2016, a judge sitting in the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware approved the sale of two buildings on the former Evergreen International Aviation campus, across from the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, to the wine giant. Company executives bid $4.6 million for the property in October.

In April, the company announced the purchase of Penner-Ash Wine Cellars of Newberg, which produces about 12,000 cases of high-end wine annually. Lynn Penner-Ash, who founded the winery with her husband Ron in 1998, is remaining as winemaker, retaining control of overall operations.

Meanwhile, Jackson and Kajiwara have begun establishing local roots of their own. They recently purchased the Bramble Hill Vineyard, a Pinot Noir vineyard located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA.

Jackson and Kajiwara plan to renovate and restore the former hardware building, constructed in 1917 by J.L. Fletcher and first occupied by R.M Wade and Company. Harold Taylor opened a hardware business there in 1921. Son-in-law Ethan Dale joined him in the business in 1961, after 10 years with Carlton Hardware. The store continued to operate under the Taylor-Dale name until its closure in 1993.

The building features 6,600 square feet on the ground floor and 6,000 in the basement. The second floor contains a similar amount of space, apportioned among four apartment units. Jackson and Kajiwara apparently plan to lease space to companies and individuals.

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