Stan Kroenke has added Screaming Eagle to his stable of franchises.
Only this franchise doesn’t dunk basketballs like the Denver Nuggets or blast slapshots like the Colorado Avalanche.
It crushes grapes.
Screaming Eagle is a cult winery that produces some of the country’s most expensive cabernet sauvignons – at least $1,000 a bottle. Kroenke and business partner Charles Banks closed a deal on the 60-acre vineyard in Napa Valley last week, Banks said.
“It’s a chance to be involved with one of the greatest wines being made in the world right now,” said Banks, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based money manager. “Stan and I are both passionate about wines.”
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Wine Spectator, an industry publication, estimated that the vineyard could be worth $20 million or more. Kroenke and Banks also own a vineyard in Santa Barbara. Banks said that property will produce its first bottle of wine in about a year and a half.
Banks said he has been business partners with Kroenke – owner of the Nuggets, Avalanche and the Pepsi Center – for six or seven years. Kroenke didn’t return calls for comment.
Drastic changes aren’t planned for Screaming Eagle, though the pair have brought in renowned vineyard manager David Abreu to oversee the property, Banks said.
“We do think there’s room for improvement, specifically within the vineyard,” he said.
A bottle of Screaming Eagle wine retails for upward of $1,000, said Joshua Hiebel, owner of Saratoga Wine Exchange, a wine retailer in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., that specializes in Screaming Eagle.
Hiebel said Screaming Eagle wines are tough to get because only 500 cases are produced each year. He has sold a 1997 bottle for $2,175.
“It’s got a culty reputation,” Hiebel said.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
