Kirkland Ranch Winery Has A New Life As A Custom Crush Facility

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Sep 9th 2009 at 11:01PM

Earlier this year I wrote about Napa Valley's Kirkland Ranch Winery. The winery failed to sell at auction and eventually faced foreclosure. But now the winery has a new life as a custom crush facility, processing grapes for a variety of wineries.

Custom crush winery Bin to Bottle has been contracted to operate the facility now known as Valley Gate Vineyards, It has a capacity of 3,300 tons, with more than 250,000 gallons of tank storage and another 250,000 gallons of barrel storage available. Bin to Bottle will take over the facility immediately and crush for the 2009 harvest. Wines & Vines speculates that the facility may be key to Napa Valley this season because many growers are facing having fewer customers for their crops. What was once a seller's market has changed and grape prices have fallen. If growers can't sell their grapes for a desirable price another option can be to make wine from the grapes and then hold onto it until prices improve.

Valley Gate Vineyards is also looking at adding other services including a distilled spirits plant, wine storage and a bottling line. There is no plan for a Valley Gate Vineyards in-house brand.

Tags: custom crush, CustomCrush, kirkand ranch winery, KirkandRanchWinery, napa valley, NapaValley, wine