Free Flow Wines taps East Coast kegger

Free Flow Wines has been looking to set up regional hubs for its specialized system of filling kegs with higher-end wine and managing how the vessels get to and from restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels and other on-premise venues for wine on tap, and Wednesday the Napa-based company said it found an East Coast partner for doing just that.

Free Flow announced a joint venture with Gotham Project for what is said to be a state-of-the-art production facility in Kearny, N.J. It is expected to open late this year, if all goes well with regulators.

The plant will be adjacent to the largest port in the country for imported wines and is designed to offer kegging and logistics support to wineries, importers and distributors on the East Coast.

Both companies will continue separate operations. But the joint facility enables Free Flow Wines to better service clients on the East Coast and in Europe and allows Gotham Project to scale its business, the companies said.

Free Flow now can expand its kegging services for imports and be more efficient logistically, said co-founder and CEO Jordan Kivelstadt.

“Gotham has long been a leader in the wine-on-tap movement, and together we will accelerate the category’s growth, open new markets and build on our combined passion of the past six years,” he said. “There is a huge demand for wine on tap nationwide, and having two production facilities will allow us to better service accounts bi-coastally.”

It also comes at a good time for Gotham Project.

“This partnership is beautifully complimentary, as we have outgrown our current facility…,” said Gotham Project co-founder and managing partner Bruce Schneider.

Gotham Project will continue to keg and sell its portfolio of wines as before. Free Flow will still be based at its West Coast production facility in Napa.

Free Flow Wines (FreeFlowWines.com), founded in 2009 by Kivelstadt and Dan Donahoe, arguably is the largest company for logistics and marketing of wine on tap at restaurants, premium hotels, sports and entertainment venues nationwide. Free Flow manages more than 220 wine brands in kegs, such as Frog’s Leap from Napa Valley, King Estate Winery from Oregon and Diseno from Mendoza, Argentina.

Free Flow Wines’ kegging and logistics services have allowed the wine and hospitality industries to move away from bottles to a sustainable, environmentally friendly way of serving wine on tap, while maintaining wine integrity from the barrel to the tap.

Winemakers Charles Bieler and Bruce Schneider started Gotham Project (GothamProject.net) in 2009, and now it is said to be the largest supplier of wine in kegs in the U.S. The company’s portfolio includes more than 50 “soulful, authentic” wines from around the country and world.

These wines are sold in 30 states and can be found in more than 400 leading on-premises outlets, including several Michelin-starred and James Beard award-winning restaurants.

Since 2010 Gotham figures it has eliminated close to 1 million glass bottles from ending up in landfills. An environmentally friendly alternative to bottles also has been a core principle for Free Flow.

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