G3 Enterprises buys wine, spirits label printer Tapp

G3 Enterprises has acquired Tapp Label, a St. Helena-based printer mostly for wine and spirits that had grown rapidly in the past four years.

Modesto-based G3 picked up Tapp's printing plants in Livermore, Paso Robles and Portland, Oregon, but the deal didn't include Tapp's large plant in Toronto, Canada, according to a spokesman. He declined further comment on the terms of the deal. Ali Bowyer, who remains Tapp director of sales and marketing, referred inquiries to G3.

Tapp Label changed the name of its Canadian operation to Ingenious Packaging Group on Jan. 30, according to public records. David Bowyer, former owner and CEO of Tapp, now lists himself as CEO of Ingenious.

Tapp has had deep roots in the California North Coast for a decade and a half. Started in 1992 in Vancouver, Canada, Tapp opened a Napa plant in 2002 as the wine industry was shifting rapidly to pressure-sensitive labels, which are applied to bottles like stickers. In 2003, Tapp expanded the Napa plant to offer digital offset printing. The plant in 2010 grew again to 10,000 square feet then to 23,000 square feet by 2013 at 580 Gateway Drive.

In 2013, Tapp acquired Napa's Ben Franklin Press & Label Co. and continued running its 19,000-square-foot at 480 Technology Way for a while.

In 2014–2015, David Bowyer rolled up with four label printers by acquisition: Adams Label in Beaverton, Oregon; Bonham Label in Livermore; Tapp Label; and Metro Label, which had plants in Napa, Vancouver and Toronto.

Bowyer had experience owning and running wine label printing companies. He owned half of Vintage 99 Label from when it started in 1999 until selling his share in 2007 to the other half-owners, Mark and Kathy Gonzales, who continue to run Vintage 99. Then he was an executive at Staples Print Solutions, CCL Label and Cameo Crafts.

In early 2016, Bowyer told trade publication Label & Narrow Web that his goal was continuing to pick up printing companies over the next three years until Tapp had more than a dozen locations, serving the key wine regions of North America.

After the mid-2015 purchase of Metro Label, Tapp started consolidating duplicate operations in Vancouver and Napa. In summer 2016, Tapp closed its remaining Napa and Vancouver plants, making the 20,000-square-foot Livermore plant its West Coast hub and opening a 9,000-square-foot plant in Paso Robles. The same year, Tapp relocated its headquarters from Napa to St. Helena.

Started by the third generation of the Gallo winemaking family, G3 produces packaging such as bottles, labels, corks, screwcaps and other alternative closures and containers; sells oak barrel alternatives; offers bottling and filling services; hauls grapes from vineyard to winery; and handles logistics and storage for packaging and finished beverages. The company contracts not only with E&J Gallo Winery but also wine companies outside the family.

In 2016, G3 Enterprises expanded its printing capabilities with the acquisition of Grigsby Label of El Dorado Hills east of Sacramento.

G3 also has been vertically integrating its packaging supply chain. In 2013, it purchased a California mine to supply sand for its glass plants.

Jeff Quackenbush (jquackenbush@busjrnl.com, 707-521-4256) covers wine, real estate and construction.

Correction, Feb. 15, 2018: David Bowyer was a 50 percent shareholder of Vintage 99, with Mark and Kathy Gonzales owning the other 50 percent, since it was founded in 1999. Bowyer sold his share to the corporation in 2007. The Gonzaleses have been operating Vintage 99 as sole shareholders. Incomplete information was received for the original article.