Holland & Knight Advises Wyckoff Family in Acquisition of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
SEATTLE (December 15, 2025) – Holland & Knight represented the Wyckoff family, a third-generation family owner of agribusiness companies based in the Yakima Valley of Eastern Washington, in the acquisition of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Washington's leading wine company and a portfolio company of Sycamore Partners. The transaction was announced on December 8.
The acquisition includes all of Ste. Michelle's wine brands, facilities and vineyards in Washington and marks the first time in more than 50 years that Ste. Michelle will be owned by a private Washington-based company. For more than four decades, the Wyckoff family has been a partner with Ste. Michelle, serving as one of its top grower and winemaking collaborators.
Founded in 1950, the Wyckoff family businesses are dedicated to producing high-quality premium wine grapes, custom wines and other agriculture products in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
Holland & Knight Partner Scott MacCormack (M&A) led the Firm's representation of the Wyckoff family. He was assisted by Partner Jason Barker, Senior Counsel Marya Gould and Associates Hannah Aho, Steven J. Clarke, Alyssa Krueger, Ben Gillman and Christian Kaiser (M&A); Partner John Dierking and Senior Counsel Ryan Kocse (Antitrust); Partners Christopher Brown and Mark Melton and Associate Bryce Klein (Tax); Partner Victoria Zerjav and Associates Patrick Burri and Burke Depuy (Executive Compensation & Benefits); Partner Alysha Yagoda and Associate Chris Gregores (Real Estate); Partner Dawn Rudenko and Associates Lauren Pratt and Leigh Stanfield (Intellectual Property); Partners Ken Jenero, Linda Auerbach Allderdice and Aron Karabel and Senior Counsel Alex Cates (Labor & Employment); Partners Letitia Moore and David Preiss (Environmental); Partner Austin Rainwater and Associate Dennis González (Litigation); Partner Michael Newman (Alcoholic Beverages); Partner Keith Sambur and Associates Alec Choury, Katelyn DeMartini, Anthony Gunnell, Sean Minorini and Luke Sturgeon (Debt Finance); Associate Ben Ylo (Financial Services); and Partner Joshua Husbands (Private Wealth Services).
More information on the transaction can be found here.
Recently recognized as the Private Equity Law Firm of the Year by the Global M&A Network, Holland & Knight regularly ranks among the leading M&A and private equity law firms in reputable, benchmarking league tables published by Bloomberg, LSEG, Mergermarket, PitchBook and The Deal. Through the HK Deal Flow℠ program, Holland & Knight facilitates deal leads for clients and prospective clients by matching acquisition or capital raising opportunities with buyers and investors.