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Wine: Napa bulk-wine storage facility purchased by vintner Ken Laird

Napa Valley grapegrower, vintner and custom processor Ken Laird has acquired a nearly complete $14 million-plus bulk-wine storage facility in south Napa from a San Rafael-based startup wine industry real estate investment trust that is liquidating its assets.

Mr. Laird, 73, purchased the 3.83-acre property at 305 Technology Lane in Napa Valley Gateway Business Park from Vintage Wine Trust for an undisclosed amount. The facility is leased to Butch Cameron, whose Santa Rosa-based namesake trucking company hauls wine for 2,500 West Coast wineries, for his Cameron Wine Storage venture. [See “Cameron pushes to finish storage facility,” June 30.]

Mr. Laird said he purchased the property as an investment rather than an extension of his custom winemaking–oriented Laird Family Estate facility north of Napa.

“I believe in the business plan Cameron has for the property,” he said. “It’s a natural fit for us. Theoretically, I can have preferential treatment if I have to use his services.”

The 30,000-square-foot initial Cameron Wine Storage building is designed to accommodate 2.5 million gallons of wine and was set to receive its first 16 truckloads of wine last week. Two other 15,000-square-foot warehouses, one for barrels and the other for casegoods, are approved for the property.

The Laird facility also is expanding as demand continues to increase for custom winemaking services, which make up more than three-quarters of the operations there, according to Mr. Laird.

Building designs are being prepared for a 30,000-square-foot approved wing for the winery. That would allow for processing of another 1,500 tons of grapes a year and take total annual production for the facility to 300,000 cases. The goal is to pour concrete for the pad this fall and have the addition ready to accept fruit by harvest 2009.

Vintage Wine Trust’s sale of the bulk-wine facility on July 17 is part of a liquidation of 15 vineyard and winery properties, valued at $170 million, amassed between March 2005 when the trust launched and the decision to liquidate in May of this year. All the properties are set to be sold and proceeds distributed by the end of this year.

More than half the properties have been sold so far, according to trust co-founder Joe Ciatti, known for his eponymous wine and winegrape brokerage.

A round of disbursements from sale proceeds went to investors in June, and the second round is set to be in their hands by the end of this month. Mr. Ciatti declined to say the total amount of each round, but the first checks were for $3.30 a share, and the second payout will be for $2.40 a share.

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Portuguese natural cork stopper producer Amorim Irmãos, which owns Napa-based sales affiliates Amorim Cork America and Portocork America, now has almost 50 wineries, 60-plus restaurants as well as other wine shops and retail venues in California and the Pacific Northwest participating in Amorim’s ReCork America stopper recycling program.

Flora Springs Winery is the latest addition to the program, which includes Whole Foods Market, PlumpJack, Calistoga Ranch resort and Honig Vineyards.

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Bob Oatley, the 80-year-old founder of Rosemount Estate, a major Australian wine company he sold in 2001 to Southcorp, which was absorbed by Foster’s Group, is bringing his wines ashore again. He started Oatley Wines in 2006 with 1,200 acres of Aussie vines and just opened his U.S. import business in Petaluma, also the offices of Robert Oatley Vineyards President Mark Giordano.

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Foursight brand co-owners Kristy Charles and winemaker Joe Webb broke ground on a 1,600-square-foot winery and tasting room in Boonville in the midst of Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. They debuted their wines in May.

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Rich and Connie Frank opened a new tasting room, designed by Valley Architects, for Frank Family Vineyards on Larkmead Lane in Calistoga. The winery also plans to have its first crush in its new small-lot fermentation facility on the property, the site of the 1884 Larkmead Winery.

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RB Wine Associates’ Rack and Riddle Custom Wine Services facility in Hopland is now certified by California Certified Organic Farmers.

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Southern Wine & Spirits, which distributes alcoholic beverages in 30 states, including California, in early August inked a 38-state joint venture with Glazer’s Distributors, which distributes wines and spirits in 12 states.

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Wine people

Cork Supply USA is expanding its laboratory capabilities with a relocation of facilities in Benicia and the hiring of lab technicians Bruce Goto and Anish Prakash. Also, the company’s new vice president of sales is Craig Castelein, formerly national sales director for Option One Mortgage Corp.

Sonoma County Winegrape Commission elected John Balletto, president of Balletto Vineyards west of Santa Rosa, as chairman of the 1,800-plus-member organization.

Charles Krug winery in St. Helena brought back winemaker David Galzignato, who made the wine there from 2003 to 2006. Mr. Galzignato’s winemaking career includes Kendall-Jackson, Paraduxx, Mark David Winery and Lewis Cellars.

Portola Packaging of Napa hired Mario Carofanello as sales director for its Zork USA subsidiary, which is licensed to sell the Australian-made Zork alternative closure in North America. He started his own wine brand nine years ago and used to work with Packaging Plus.

Sparkling wine house Schramsberg Vineyards in Calistoga had several personnel changes. Fred Zammataro was promoted to executive vice president and COO. He started there in 1996 as director of finance and administration and was promoted to CFO a year later. Laurent Sarazin, who has been there eight years, was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing. Joe Agostine was promoted to sales and marketing senior manager, overseeing direct-to-consumer sales. John Marchesini joined the winery as hospitality manager after retail and hospitality stints at Dry Creek Vineyard, Cliff Lede Vineyard and Cuvaison winery.

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Submit items for this column to

Jeff Quackenbush at 707-521-4256, jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or fax 707-521-5292.