Wine group expands HQ to south Napa

[caption id="attachment_91418" align="alignleft" width="400"] Crimson Wine Group plans to move its headquarters to this south Napa building in July. (credit: Colliers International)[/caption]

NAPA -- Crimson Wine Group (OTCMKTS: CWGL), owner of the Seghesio, Pine Ridge and other California and Washington brands, plans to relocate its headquarters this summer to south Napa to accommodate production at the Pine Ridge winery, where the offices have been.

Crimson Wine Group (800-486-0503, crimsonwinegroup.com) leased 13,157 square feet of office space at 2700 Napa Valley Corporate Dr., Ste. B in south Napa. The goal is to move about 30 people in the administrative group -- finance, accounting, information technology departments as well as the heads of sales and marketing -- from the Pine Ridge Vineyards property at 5901 Silverado Trail east of Yountville to the new location in July, according to Erle Martin, president and chief executive officer.

"It's a good development for our business," he said. "Each property has its own DNA. [General Manager and winemaker Michael Beaulac] needs room to do his thing."

The new offices will allow for growth of headquarters staff over time, he said. Plans for the space are under design.

Crimson has four wineries and controls 1,139 acres of land, 728 of which were planted with vines. Brands in the portfolio are Pine Ridge Vineyards in Napa Valley' Stags Leap District, Archery Summit in Oregon's Willamette Valley appellation, Chamisal Vineyards in the Edna Valley on California's Central Coast region, Seghesio Family Vineyards in Sonoma County's Alexander Valley appellation and Double Canyon in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills region.

Crimson started in 1991 with the acquisition of Pine Ridge, which was founded in 1978. The company was an early investor in Oregon wine country with the establishment of Archery Summit in 1993. In 2002, New York-based Leucadia National Corp. acquired Crimson.

Acquisitions and expansion have continued since then. Domaine Alfred on the Central Coast was acquired in 2008 then renamed Chamisal Vineyards. Pine Ridge's second label, ForeFront, launched in 2009. The acquisition of Seghesio in 2011 about doubled the portfolio's annual case production. Double Canyon property was acquired in 2005--2006, and the first wine was released in 2012.

In February of last year, Leucadia spun off Crimson as a public company and infused it with $14.1 million in capital.

The group has been growing rapidly. Sales last year rose 15.7 percent to $56.5 million, according to the annual report. The company plans to spend $5.4 million this year on capital improvements, including $1.1 million on technology and the rest on vineyard development.

Michael Moffett and Christopher Yeakey of Coldwell Banker Commercial Brokers of the Valley represented Crimson in the early April office lease. Steve Crocker and Brooks Pedder of Colliers International represented property owner Carneros 1, LLC, managed by The Edward Pike Co. of Lafayette.

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