Wine warehouse set to open Windsor expansion

The 31,000-square-foot warehouse nearing completion in a Windsor business park is set to be the expanded new home of Wine Country Shipping.

After site work started in June, the project on one and three-quarters acres at 1600 American Way in Conde Lane Business Park is headed toward the Windsor-based wine logistics company being able to move in by the end of this month, according to owner Dan Laskoski. He leased the forthcoming building in September 2012 from Airport Business Center, developer of the business park.

The new casegood warehouse complements existing wine storage, order-fulfillment and shipping businesses in two buildings totaling 25,000 square feet at 7686 Bell Rd. also in Windsor. Mr. Laskoski started Wine Country Shipping (707-836-7748, winecountryshipping.com) in 1999 and expanded to Windsor from Santa Rosa six years later. In 2006 he started Wine Country Cellars (winecountrycellars.net) to provide a secure home for high-value wine collections.

The project team includes Del Starrett Architect of Santa Rosa, general contractor Pacatte Construction of Windsor plus Santa Rosa-based specialty contractors Carlisle Construction, Lunardi Electric and Landesign Construction & Maintenance.***

Napa Valley Vintners is distributing to local charities the first $3 million in proceeds from $16.9 million raised during the 33rd annual Auction Napa Valley event in late May.

The disbursements are the first of seven categories of funding and are in the trade group’s two long-term strategic priority areas of community health and children’s education in Napa County. Unrestricted grants in this first round from 2013 proceeds are $1.5 million to Community Health Clinic Ole, $500,000 each to Queen of the Valley Medical Center and St. Helena Hospital, $286,750 to Children’s Health Initiative, $150,000 to Planned Parenthood and $57,000 to Pediatric Dental Initiative Surgery Center.

To date, the vintner association has invested more than $120 million in auction proceeds in community Napa County nonprofits.

"Since 1981, the NVV has set the standard for a single industry taking care of those in need in its own community," said Linda Reiff, president and chief executive officer of Napa Valley Vintners. "We are grateful for the opportunity to continue our leadership role and ensure that we invest the proceeds from Auction Napa Valley strategically to create the most significant, long-term, positive impact possible."***

San Francisco-based private-equity firm Bacchus Capital last week launched BCM Wineworks, a sales and marketing agency for wineries in its investment portfolio.

Starting clients for the new company are Sbragia Family Vineyards in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley, DeLille Cellars in Washington and Madrigal Family Winery in Napa Valley.

Leading BCM Wineworks are Bacchus co-founder and managing partner Sam Bronfman as chairman, Bacchus senior advisor and Sbragia General Manager Steve Cousins as president, and DeLille co-founder Jay Soloff as vice president of national sales. Veteran wine marketer Bill Piersol of Sonoma-based 39 Wine Creative will be senior marketing adviser.

Bacchus' portfolio of investments also include Mario Andretti's Andretti Winery near Napa; Maritime Wine Trading Collective, a boutique wine import, production, and distribution company; Panther Creek Cellars in Oregon; Wine by Joe and Dobbes Family Estate also in Oregon. Previous financing includes Cameron Hughes Wine and Qupe winery on the Central Coast.***

North Bay-based Wine Services Group of Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank agents have been handling notable winery properties.

The group is marketing 775 acres of Chatom Vineyards and Winery properties in Calaveras County's Sierra Foothills winegrowing region for owner Gay Callan, who after 33 years of owning the operation and two decades of making wine plans to retire from the industry.

Chatom Vineyards, located on 745 acres in Esmeralda Valley near San Andreas, is planted with 65 acres of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, zinfandel, merlot, sangiovese, semillon and five Portuguese varieties. The ranch has a 4,000-square-foot home with swimming pool, a ranch manager home, a mobile home, shop, garage-office, two equipment sheds and two barns. The winery and tasting room are on 32 acres off Highway 4 near Douglas Flat.

Marketing the properties are Kevin Foster and Preston Smith of the Wine Services Group, which started in late 2011 and is linked to 7,000 agents worldwide through Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. They're targeting buyers from metropolitan areas who are interested in the wine lifestyle and vintners interested in a fruit source.

The property is said to have the original Esmeralda Post Office where Mark Twain mailed manuscripts to his New York publisher.

The group recently brokered the sale of Byington Winery & Vineyard near Los Gatos to Los Altos Vineyards, LLC. The sale price wasn't disclosed, but owners Byington Trust and Byington Steel Treating had it listed for $7.5 million. The property has 85 acres of vines, a 4,000-squre-foot wine cave and produces 20,000 cases annually.***

Sonoma-based Collotype Digital, a division of Ohio-based Collotype Labels, a global printer of wine and spirits labels with plants in Napa and Sonoma, won top awards in two print industry competitions.

The label for Wren Hop Vineyards of Windsor that mimics the look of a well-worn leather hardbound book cover won three awards from both events. At the North American Gold Ink Awards (goldink.com) in the Digital Label Printing category, Collotype Digital won the gold level. That label won first place for Wine & Spirits Digital Label Printing and "best in class" for Digital Printing at the North American Tag & Label Industry Association awards (tlmi.com).

Collotype Digital also took the bronze level in Digital Label Printing for a Franciscan Estate Winery label at the Gold Ink Awards.

Fremont-based Cellotape won silver for Digital Label Printing at Gold Ink for the Auburn Twin Oaks Maple & Vine label.•••

Send items for this column to jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or call 707-521-4256.

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