Vintner Bill Foley buys Stryker Sonoma Winery in Alexander Valley

Vintner Bill Foley has expanded his Sonoma County wine empire by buying the Stryker Sonoma Winery in Geyserville from owner Pat Stryker.

The purchase this week by Foley Family Wines of Healdsburg includes the inventory, a production facility that can produce up to 20,000 cases annually and 25 acres of planted vineyards in the Alexander Valley.

The entire property is 40 acres and has two guest houses.

The winery will be renamed Foley Sonoma within six months and Foley’s daughter, Courtney Foley, will become winemaker at the facility.

Bill Foley said that consumers can expect “bigger, rounder and softer” cabernet sauvignons.

“That’s the profile I like and Alexander Valley is perfect for it,” he said.

The focus will be to move the wines into wholesale distribution as a high-end product, retailing from $50 to $65.

In an email to wine club members, Stryker said she has decided to focus on the philanthropic activities of her family foundation. She operated the winery for 17 years and the facility is well-known for its scenic tasting room that looks out to the Mayacamas Mountains.

Foley Family Wines is the 18th-largest wine company in the country, producing 1.1 million cases last year, according to the trade publication Wine Business Monthly. It owns almost 40 brands, including the iconic Sebastiani and Foley Estates.

The purchase will help complement and round out the company’s assets in the northern part of Sonoma County, such as Lancaster Estate in Alexander Valley and its vineyards in Cloverdale, he said.

“It gives me a first-class facility in Alexander Valley,” Foley said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.