Well, this comes as a surprise, in a note from wine maker Patrick Campbell anticipating a news release due out today:
I have sold Laurel Glen Vineyard to Bettina Sichel, a member of the prominent Bordeaux and German family, that has been involved in the wine world for generations. I have been working on this sale for over three years, and after many hiccups and detours it has finally happened.
With thirty-five years of farming Laurel Glen under my belt, I had simply gotten about as much intellectual interest and satisfaction out of the vineyard and winery as I was ever going to get. Furthermore, during the past twenty years, my heart has been ncreasingly taken with the projects I had been developing in Lodi and Argentina, and it became ever more obvious that it was time to move on.
I will continue with the REDS, ZaZin!, Terra Rosa, Tierra Divina, Vale la Pena, and Chévere wines, now with less distraction and more focus, under the new company name: Tierra Divina Vineyards.
Thanks for your help, interest, and support along the long journey. Rest assured that the best is yet to come!