Ken Wright Cellars, one of Oregon’s best-known pinot noir producers, has sold a stake in its business to the Gussalli Beretta family of Italy, which is best known for making Beretta firearms. Through its wine holding company, Upifra Agricole, the family will take a minority stake in the winery in Carlton and majority ownership of Ken Wright’s real estate.
The deal covers three vineyards that Wright owns, Carter, Canary Hill and Savoya, and the family will also take over long-term agreements for 11 other vineyard sites. It includes several buildings in Carlton, including the winemaking facilities and the winery’s tasting room at 120 N. Pine St., in a historic 1920s train depot. Wright will lease the properties back, so the tasting room and the winemaking operation will continue as they are.
Wright, 72, will stay on as winemaker and head of the company, and the team and the way the winery is run are not changing. He founded Panther Creek Cellars in 1986, sold it and launched Ken Wright Cellars in 1994, and he has built a reputation for vineyard-designated pinot noir. His son, Carson Wright, is the winery’s president of sales.
The winery produced about 65,000 cases in 2026, down from 70,000 last year, including 14 single-vineyard pinot noirs. Wright said the deal will give the winery more financial capacity to grow. The transaction covers about 91 acres, and including leased vineyards, the winery will farm more than 170 acres.
The Berettas have been in the firearms business for about 500 years and are now led by the 15th generation. Their wine company runs seven wineries in Italy, including Castello di Radda in Chianti Classico and Fabio Motta in Bolgheri. Wright said the family was looking to expand its wine business outside Italy for the first time, and that they chose the Willamette Valley when they could have gone anywhere, which he sees as a sign of the region’s standing.
It is the second major Italian investment in Oregon wine in recent years. Herita Marzotto Wine Estates, owner of the Santa Margherita brand, bought a majority stake in Roco Winery in 2022 and has since added vineyards in the Chehalem Mountains and Dundee Hills, along with the Marsh Estate in Yamhill-Carlton.
The Wine Spectator reported first on this development.
