I’d be interested in finding out how many foreign-based conglomerates have bought wineries in the Napa Valley and how many each has. I know that Treasury Wine Estates, based in Australia, has six that I could readily identify: Beringer, Estude, Sterling, Stags Leap, Beaulieu Vineyards, and Frank Family Vineyards. Granted, Sterling has had several large company running it since Peter Newton first started it, and I know winemakers want out of their company for a variety of reasons, but there seems to be more gobbling up of smaller enterprises by larger corporations taking place. Look at the wineries recently acquired by Gallo. Won’t these have bearing on the future of the Napa Valley wine industry as much as trying to ferret out who has or doesn’t have Type 02 licenses? I know private wineries selling out to a syndicate isn’t new — my grandfather’s Brun and Chaix wineries in Oakville and Howell Mountain were sold to The California Wine Association, which was formed by a group of investors. Thank you for all your well researched and interesting articles.
How I wish such research had been available in 1991 when I was writing "Napa Valley: The Ultimate Winery Guide" for Chronicle Books! Excellent updated background for all. Thank you, NVF.
Great article! It's difficult to data test anecdotal evidence, but it would be good to know how many Napa grape tons are crushed outside the valley. I know a few growers and wine brand owners who crush in Sonoma because they cannot find custom crush space in Napa. It would be good to get an idea of that before we check the box on enough crush capacity in the county. I seems logical that repatriating that tonnage, especially if processing is in Napa's business parks, would be better for grape quality and reduce the carbon footprint of all that hauling.
I’d be interested in finding out how many foreign-based conglomerates have bought wineries in the Napa Valley and how many each has. I know that Treasury Wine Estates, based in Australia, has six that I could readily identify: Beringer, Estude, Sterling, Stags Leap, Beaulieu Vineyards, and Frank Family Vineyards. Granted, Sterling has had several large company running it since Peter Newton first started it, and I know winemakers want out of their company for a variety of reasons, but there seems to be more gobbling up of smaller enterprises by larger corporations taking place. Look at the wineries recently acquired by Gallo. Won’t these have bearing on the future of the Napa Valley wine industry as much as trying to ferret out who has or doesn’t have Type 02 licenses? I know private wineries selling out to a syndicate isn’t new — my grandfather’s Brun and Chaix wineries in Oakville and Howell Mountain were sold to The California Wine Association, which was formed by a group of investors. Thank you for all your well researched and interesting articles.
How I wish such research had been available in 1991 when I was writing "Napa Valley: The Ultimate Winery Guide" for Chronicle Books! Excellent updated background for all. Thank you, NVF.
Great article! It's difficult to data test anecdotal evidence, but it would be good to know how many Napa grape tons are crushed outside the valley. I know a few growers and wine brand owners who crush in Sonoma because they cannot find custom crush space in Napa. It would be good to get an idea of that before we check the box on enough crush capacity in the county. I seems logical that repatriating that tonnage, especially if processing is in Napa's business parks, would be better for grape quality and reduce the carbon footprint of all that hauling.