YAMHILL — To move toward retirement, Oregon wine business owner Steve Lutz, 66, has sold his vineyard to one of his wine club members.

The transaction comes as the Oregon wine industry faces a ripple of retirements.

Lutz and co-founder Karen Lutz, his wife, have sold Lenne Estate, their approximately 21-acre vineyard in Yamhill to Jory Property Holdings LLC, a partnership between Eugene Labunsky and Jared Etzel.

Labunsky was a wine club member at Lenne Estate. Etzel is a winemaker and co-founder of Domaine Roy & fils Winery and Vineyard in Dundee. The pair created Jory Property Holdings with the “intent to grow a portfolio of fine wine brands” from Willamette Valley Pinot noir and Chardonnay, according to a statement.

“He (Labunsky) just loves the property. It turned out to be a good person to sell to,” said Lutz.

METIS, a mergers and acquisitions firm specializing in the Pacific Northwest wine industry, brokered the sale. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Lutzes had offers from other investors, including from a Canadian company, but Steve Lutz said those opportunities “didn’t feel quite right.” He said he’s grateful he was able to sell to local buyers who plan to maintain the vineyard and renovate the tasting room.

“I didn’t really care if it stayed the same,” said Lutz. “You know, some people, they put all this time and effort into it and they want somebody to carry on their vision. I just wanted somebody to carry on a high-end wine brand.”

He also wanted to work with an investor who would buy only the property and let him keep the Lenne brand so he and his wife could sell their remaining inventory: about 3,000 cases.

Under their agreement with Jory, the Lutzes will maintain their brand and continue to sell at Lenne Estate’s tasting room until Dec. 24. In early 2023, the Lutzes will move to Distaff Wine Co.’s tasting room in Newberg to sell leftover inventory.

Although Lutz is pleased with the acquisition’s terms, he will miss aspects of the work.

“When you get people in a wine club for 10, 15 years, it does feel a little bit family-like. And I just really did love the whole process of developing the vineyard,” he said.

Lutz said he and his wife would probably keep the property if they had kids, but since they don’t, and because vineyard work is physically demanding, Lutz said selling was the best course of action.

The transaction comes a month after Robin and Danuta Pfeiffer, 83 and 73 respectively, sold their 70-acre Junction City vineyard to King Estate Winery, one of Oregon’s largest wine producers, so they too could retire.

During 2021 and 2022, the Oregon wine industry experienced significant merger and acquisition activity. Growers retiring was a contributing factor.

“Sellers are often driven by the desire to retire,” said Andy Steinman, Pacific Northwest partner in Global Wine Partners, a mergers and acquisitions firm focused on the U.S. wine industry.

The Lenne Estate acquisition, Steinman said, also “demonstrates that transactions are still happening despite interest rate headwinds.”