Agriculture – North Bay Business Journal - North San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma, Marin, Napa counties

PlumpJack acquires Stags Leap property

February 1st, 2012

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

January 19th, 2012

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.
SRJC wines to be the taste of The Wineyard

January 16th, 2012

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Junior College’s Shone Farm Winery, part of the community college’s winemaking and viticulture training program, has teamed up with a new collective tasting room in the city to provide a higher-profile venue for the school’s award-winning wines and eventually other planned packaged agricultural products from the 365-acre west Sonoma County property.
Growers gear up to fight new frost rules

January 16th, 2012

Local growers in the Russian River watershed in Mendocino and Sonoma ounties, titled Russian River Water Users for the Environment, filed a lawsuit against the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) on Oct. 20 in the Sacramento Superior Court for an unprecedented regulation targeting winegrape growers’ use of water for frost protection purposes.
American AgCredit grows to sixth in nation after merger

January 5th, 2012

American AgCredit, the farm lending giant headquartered in Santa Rosa, has merged with Colorado-based Farm Credit Services of the Mountain Plains.
Grape Market Insights: Bulk cabernet inventory reveals naked truth of shortages

December 12th, 2011

Commodity traders watch feed prices and count pork bellies. As for me, I watch what is hanging on grape vines (not much right now) and I study our proprietary data, especially bulk-wine inventories. Those two data points, plus a good bottle of Sonoma County cabernet sauvignon, can reveal the future. Let’s talk 2012, and let’s talk North Coast cab.
Vineyard pond project taps law to ‘dedicate’ water to fish

November 28th, 2011

HOPLAND — Conversions of former pear orchards in Mendocino County to grapevines is nothing new and construction of sizable off-stream ponds to collect winter stream runoff for spring vine frost protection is gaining momentum with new state and local rules, but one major North Coast winegrape grower’s project to do both adds a new element, dedicating a majority of historical water rights back to the stream.
Pauli elected to lead statewide winegrape group

November 18th, 2011

Longtime Mendocino County winegrape grower Bill Pauli was elected chairman of the California Association of Winegrape Growers at its Nov. 10 board meeting.
Difficult 2011 harvest not having big lending impact

November 14th, 2011

The cold 2011 season and wet harvest dampened North Coast crop yields by as much as one-third from norms by early estimates, and lenders are closely observing grower ability to make payments on crop and other loans with fewer tons to sell and higher vineyard-management costs.
North Coast wine industry sings the ‘hang time’ blues

November 14th, 2011

According to Brian’s Dictionary of Wine, the term hang time designates three related times: a time of flavor development for grapes, a time of anxiety and expectation for winemakers and a time of dread, despair and paranoia for grape growers. The poor grape broker’s job is to try to reconcile these three times to keep everyone happy — a tough task in a year like 2011, when no one is anything remotely like happy.
Winery Exchange revamps Echelon with North Coast grapes

November 14th, 2011

After acquiring the Echelon Vineyards brand from Diageo Chateau & Estates Wines early this year, Novato-based Winery Exchange has revamped the brand inside the bottle and out. … Boisset Family Estates, whose U.S. portfolio of brands includes DeLoach, Buena Vista and Raymond, formed a “strategic partnership” with 75,000-case-a-year Lockwood Vineyard in Monterey County. … Part of the makeover of the Main Street Exchange building at 1040 Main St. in downtown Napa, are tenant improvements to accommodate 22 employees of Huneeus Vintners. The Huneeus family wine company plans to relocate accounting, sales administration and marketing personnel from the Quintessa winery in St. Helena to 5,800 square feet in Napa around the beginning of next year … What started as a novel packaging idea to distinguish their 400-case-a-year Rua wine brand has turned into a business in its own right for Windsor-based wine sales and marketing veterans Máire Murphy and her husband, Walt Averill. In the past year since launching CapaBunga — a surfer-esque play on “capsule” and wine barrel “bung” — they’ve sold 117,000 of the stretchable food-grade silicone bottleneck capsules. … Tony Linegar, 46, Mendocino County agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures for nearly three years, will move to that role in Sonoma County on Jan. 3. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved his appointment Tuesday. … With harvest mostly over in the North Coast, it’s the start of wine business conference season.
More than wine from these vines

November 7th, 2011

SANTA ROSA — Barbara Banke, chairwoman of Jackson Family Wines, and Chalk Hill Winery co-founder Peggy Furth are launching WholeVine, intended to eventually become a charitable business developing products from as many of the parts of vine as possible with quality as premium as the winegrapes.
Honore Comfort, Sonoma County Vintners: ‘Not just another wine tasting’

October 17th, 2011

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself ? Sonoma County Vintners Executive Director since 2006. I have collaborated with multiple local organizations on complex projects. Working with the Winegrape Commission, I created the Presidents’ Council, a body of community and industry leaders that meets regularly to address issues and opportunities that support [...]
Supervisor Efren Carrillo: ‘Great challenge lies with the achievement gap’

October 17th, 2011

Efren Carrillo is the Fifth District Supervisor for Sonoma County and is the current chairman of the board.
Constellation mechanizes some high-end harvest

October 17th, 2011

Constellation Wines U.S., the world’s largest wine producer, is making a big move forward this year with machine harvesting for higher-end wines.
Raydiance founder, former AOL CEO to address Impact Sonoma

October 3rd, 2011

SONOMA COUNTY — Raydiance founder and chairman Barry Schuler will be the keynote speaker at the The Business Journal’s upcoming annual Impact Sonoma conference, where he and other key business and government leaders will sound off on their respective visions for Sonoma County. The speakers range from numerous sectors considered vital to the county’s future [...]
‘Sea change’ coming to grape, wine markets

September 19th, 2011

In recent weeks, the East Coast has endured a surprising earthquake and a hurricane. In the meantime, things are also shaking in the West Coast wine business. The world of California wine, in fact, is entering its own storm. Four supply and demand factors have more or less lined up to produce a sea change in the grape and wine markets.
Frost-pond bill passes; regulators float frost-water rule

September 12th, 2011

The Legislature passed a bill by two North Coast state legislators that would streamline permitting of small irrigation ponds that could be tapped for frost prevention, rather than streams deemed habitat for protected fish. Meanwhile, state water regulators released the latest revision to a Russian River basin frost-water regulation more than three years in the making.
2011 winegrape harvest starts later, is lighter

September 5th, 2011

The 2011 North Coast winegrape harvest began later and lighter than normal and even more than 2010, which suffered from some of the same early-season bad weather and cool summer conditions of this year.
Napa Valley winegrape harvest begins

August 26th, 2011

The 2011 winegrape harvest finally is getting under way in Napa County, as sparkling wine producers start crushing a crop is later and appears to be lighter than normal and even last year’s weather-wearied vintage. Domaine Chandon started bringing in Napa fruit Friday. Mumm Napa and Schramsberg Vineyards plan to do so Monday; Domain Carneros, Wednesday.