Sweely sold for $10.2 million

Bucolic Madison County meets an Internet age innovator. Billionaire Steve Case of America Online (AOL) fame and founder of the Case Foundation with his wife Jean have purchased Sweely Estate Winery near Wolftown in one of the most expensive property sales in the county’s history.

According to Madison County Circuit Court Clerk’s office records, Sweely Holding LLC sold hundreds of acres to Madison County Wines LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, for $10.2 million dollars on Nov. 17. Madison County Wines LLC’s chief executive officer is Peter Hoehn, who reportedly works for Case, according to published reports. He purchased three parcels – a 234-acres one, a 77-acre one and a 5.97-acre one. Final regulatory approval for the sale was granted late last month.

In a Dec. 13 Washington Post story, Jean Case is quoted as saying, “We’re Virginians for the past 30 years, and we like to see business grow in the state.” The Cases reportedly live in McLean. “Part of that is the excitement of helping a nascent industry on the brink of success. Our goal is for us and our team to be out in some markets in Virginia and building exposure for Virginia wines. There’s a beautiful opportunity to be out there with a wine and show people the quality it represents.”

It is unclear the extent of changes, if any, the Cases will make to the winery. In the Washington Post story, Jean Case says her first order of business is to renovate and reopen in the spring with a new tasting room and refurbished events venues.

Sweely Estate Winery was on the auction block twice in two years.

The 295-acre winery and vineyard site is off Wolftown-Hood Road (Route 230) between Wolftown and Oak Hill.

Multi-million dollar property and business transactions are rare in Madison County. In 2009, Oak Hill-based Plow and Hearth was sold to a Richmond company for $17 million. An affiliate company of Evergreen Enterprises Incorporated bought Plow and Hearth and its four brands from 1-800-Flowers in what is probably the most expensive real estate transaction in the county’s history. The $10.2 million Sweely sale is believed to be the second most expensive real estate sale in the county’s history, although county officials weren’t sure.

“I am thinking it is one of the largest (property transactions),” Madison County Circuit Court Clerk Linda Parrish said. “We have had some that are pretty big.”

According to a 2011 story in Forbes magazine, Steve Case, 53, is the 331^st richest person in the United States. His net worth is $1.3 billion. He attended the same high school in Hawaii as President Barack Obama.

Jess and Sharon Sweely opened the vineyard and winery as Acorn Hill Winery in 2007 and expanded it in 2008, according to previous Eagle stories. The winery name was changed in 2008 because it reportedly closely resembled the name of another established winery.

Central Virginia wineries have been in the news in recent months with Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard property being recently bought by another billionaire -- TV personality and New York real estate mogul Donald Trump.