North Bay Business Journal

Wine industry seeks producing vines as cost, competition pressures rise

After a dozen years of winegrape excess statewide, the California wine business is headed into several years of tighter supply to slake growing global demand while competition and costs of production are rising, according to experts at the Business Journal’s 2012 Wine Industry Conference in Santa Rosa on Wednesday. … The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously to roll back all but simplified registration provisions in the county’s Vineyard and Orchard Frost Protection Ordinance. … F. Korbel & Bros., producer of Korbel sparkling wine, plans to sell the half-million-case-a-year Kenwood Vineyards brand and related assets to Banfi Vintners, one of the country’s major wine marketers. … The McWilliams family, owners of Arista Winery with 36 acres of estate vineyards on Westside Road in Russian River Valley, purchased the 74-acre Martinelli Road Vineyard from the Martinelli family. … Sebastopol-based mobile wine filtration services provider American Winesecrets teamed with Australia’s Diverse Barrel Solution Pty. Ltd. to operate the latter’s Phoenix high-tech barrel-restoration system starting in July. … Longtime wine and spirits executive and entrepreneur Mike Kenton formed OFFbeat Brands to develop, find sourcing for and market high-quality, “eclectic” and different wine and spirit brands. … Santa Rosa-based Provino, which evolved its wine telesales business into an outsourced direct-to-consumer marketing service for vintners, changed its name to VinoPro to reflect its move further in that direction and launched a technology services division to blend its DTC customer resource management software with popular wine business software package. … Spring and summer are set to have more wine business seminars and training: Sonoma State University’s new Napa Valley expansion for the wine executive MBA program, Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute global wine business education conference, Vineyard Economics Seminar, Wine Industry Technology Symposium.

Access to financing easing for wine industry, lenders say

NORTH BAY – Borrowers in the wine industry have found it easier to access financing recently, with industry lending experts citing a warming approach to commercial lending from traditional sources and an uptick in interest for specialty non-bank lending.

Grape Market Insights: How to win the California (grape) Lottery

In this game, which is the real California Lottery, you’re going to need a four-wheel drive vehicle and you’ve got to get your boots muddy. There will be two kinds of mega-winners: Growers who have used this time strategically to build relationships with the best long term homes for their grapes and brand owners who have forged relationships with key growers that will allow them to respond to growing consumer demand with an ample supply of quality wine while maintaining a healthy profit margin.

We have smart phones, so why not smart gardens?

NORTH BAY – With its unique concentration of high-tech talent and growers it’s not surprising the North Bay region has sprouted a number of companies dedicated to better yields through technology.

Merger to give Sebastopol apple processor wider reach

SEBASTOPOL — Ninety-year-old apple processor Manzana Products Co. Inc. has merged with a large France-based agricultural products co-operative, giving the European company an entry point to U.S. markets for its apple products and Manzana backing for growing sales.

April 18 forum of experts to tackle shrinking supply, globalization, finance

SANTA ROSA — As the supply of raw materials for wine are evaporates around the globe, emerging economies become thirstier for the beverage, the U.S. emerges as the world’s top wine market and the complexities of international trade, investment and economics multiply, 13 top California wine industry executives will be defining the challenges and opportunities at the Business Journal’s 2012 Wine Industry Conference on April 18 in Santa Rosa.

The supply puzzle: Experts weigh in on how a shortage will impact industry

Wine consumption is growing worldwide and particularly in the world’s new largest wine market, the U.S. Trouble is, shocks to the global economy and to the wine business in particular over the past several years along with tough growing seasons have dramatically limited the supply of grapes and wine sold in bulk to supply the thirst.

The Business Journal asked members of the 2012 Wine Industry Conference panel on grape and wine supply panel at the about some of the hotly discussed topics in the wine business in California.

Winegrape shortage could last six to eight years

After nearly 10 years of oversupply and low prices, California winegrapes and bulk wines are suddenly in a position of scarcity. Wineries are scurrying to find grapes and secure vineyard assets, while négociant wineries see their wine sources dwindling. How did we come to be in this situation, and what lies ahead for growers, wineries and consumers?

Experts: winegrape shortage to persist for years

NAPA — Not enough winegrapes have been planted in California, leading to a shortage of fruit for wine in the next several years, so growers and wineries should be actively working together to boost that supply, according to two major industry experts.

Russian River water supply back to ‘normal’

SANTA ROSA — Thanks to the “March miracle” rainfall, Russian River water supply conditions on April 1 will change from “critical” to “normal” under the Sonoma County Water Agency’s water rights permits and State Water Resource Control Board Decision 1610.

Napa County CEO proposes consolidation of departments to create ‘one-stop shop’ for permits

NAPA — In an effort to streamline its permitting process while reducing costs, Napa County is proposing to consolidate divisions currently within the Department of Environmental Management into the Department of Conservation, Development and Planning, while all general service functions would be operated out of the Public Works Department, creating a “one-stop shop” for permits.

Bill seeks to reimburse farmers for organic certification

Recently introduced legislation in Sacramento would reimburse farmers for costs associated with transitioning land to certified organic production.

Agency calls Russian River water supply ‘critical’

Russian River water supply conditions changed to “critical” today under the Sonoma County Water Agency’s water rights permits and State Water Resource Control Board’s Decision 1610. This “critical” designation means the water agency is permitted to reduce Russian River flows to preserve water storage in Lake Mendocino so there is enough for all water users and for release in the fall to support migrating Russian River Chinook salmon, listed as threatened on the Federal Endangered Species List.

Farmworker education workshop set for March 1-2

This Thursday and Friday, March 1–2, Napa Valley Grapegrowers hosts the fifth annual Farmworker Education Workshop, held this year at Starmont winery south of Napa.

‘Defective’ trusts may boost 2012 tax exemptions

Keeping a family-based wine or vineyard business alive from one generation to the next is difficult enough, seen in a recent industry survey that one in three vintners wants to get out in coming years, but many small to relatively large family operations may be able to avoid an estate-tax “liquidity crisis” by accelerating transfers of business assets to a multigenerational trust under federal tax law provisions currently set to end this year.

Grape Market Insights: Mother Nature, we forgive you for ’11; now let it rain

Brokers, growers, grape buyers, winery financial execs and marketing wizards are all complaining about Mother Nature because she was stingy this last harvest.

Clover moves offices back to south Petaluma

PETALUMA — Clover Stornetta Farms moved its headquarters back to the south end of Petaluma, closer to its production facility for milk and other dairy beverages.

North Coast 2011 winegrape crop 11% lighter, nearly 7% lower value

NORTH COAST — The first official tally of the impact of the stormy 2011 winegrape season is in: North Coast vintners crushed 11.8 percent fewer tons last year than in 2010, and the value of the 2011 crop at nearly $848 million was 6.9 percent smaller than the year before, despite average per-ton prices rising 5 percent to 10 percent last year, according to preliminary state figures released today.

PlumpJack acquires Stags Leap property

NAPA VALLEY — PlumpJack Group today said it acquired the 40-acre Steltzner Vineyards property in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley to produce estate-grown wines from that region.

Bulk-wine inventory hits 12-year low

SANTA ROSA — The tightest inventory of top varieties of wine available for purchase in bulk in a dozen years and a dwindling supply of those winegrapes could extend the rise in pricing for those fine-wine components into this year, but wineries are hard-pressed to pass those cost increases to consumers who are continuing to look for discounts, according to experts at a major local wine industry seminar this morning.