The explosion of growth in recent years in winery and vineyard development has made the Northwest one of the country’s premier wine regions, second in volume of production only to California. Our warm, dry interior regions are uniquely suited to producing full-bodied, balanced wines and connoisseurs are noticing and buying. The attorneys of Foster Pepper’s Winery and Vineyard group are uniquely positioned to assist the settled or aspiring vintner in all facets of winery and vineyard acquisition and operation. We would be pleased to assist you in navigating the wide range of legal issues affecting your business. Please contact Judy Runstad, Dick Settle, or Ken Myer for questions related to our winery and vineyard legal services.

Foster Pepper has expertise and experience in all major areas of legal services for the wine industry, from the formation and operation of wineries and vineyards, to development of wine-related residential and hospitality projects. We also have expertise in legal issues related to wine distribution and retailing. Selection of the type of legal entity for ownership of wineries and vineyards is an important first step. We have expertise in all forms of ownership and tax structures. Financing may be equity and/or debt, taxable or tax exempt. Our attorneys have extensive experience in navigating the various alternatives for business formation. Vineyard and winery operations have, in addition to the typical business issues, unique trademark, licensing, employment/labor, and tax issues. Our attorneys have successfully represented wine industry clients in all of these areas.

Wine industry developments range from purely agricultural vineyards to urban wine production, hospitality and residential developments, with a wide variety of mixed use developments in between. Depending on the unique circumstances of a specific project or operating enterprise, real estate transactional, land use and environmental issues often arise, and in nearly all cases, water rights are critical.