pom wonderful

Billionaire Resnicks Pick Up Justin Winery

Filed under: Wine

More proof this week that the Paso Robles wine region in California is booming. Another up and coming winery was snapped up by a big fish. This time it's Justin Vineyards & Winery which was picked up by billionaire Stewart Resnick's Fiji Water. Resnick and his wife Lynda are also behind the Pom brand of pomegranate juice, Teleflora and a host of other businesses. They are also important philanthropists supporting several museums as well as medical and education initiatives.

Justin Winery was founded by Justin Baldwin and his wife Deborah back in 1981. The winery now makes about 50,000 cases of wine a year including cabernet sauvignon, malbec, syrah and petit verdot starting at around $20 a bottle. The 160-acre property also is a travel destination with a hotel and a restaurant.

Bloomberg News reports that unlike many of the other wineries purchased this year, this one doesn't appear to have been in financial distress (as was the case with the recent purchase of Eos Winery in Paso Robles by Foley Family Wines). It's not known how much the winery sold for. The Resnicks had been looking to get into the wine business for years and found Justin Winery to be the perfect fit.

Tags: fiji water, justin winery, lynda resnick, pom wonderful, stuart resnick

Pom Wonderful Owners Make Big Donation For Sustainability

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green, Big Givers

Billionaire couple Stewart and Lynda Resnick made another big donation recently. The Los Angeles couple who are behind Pom Wonderful, Fiji Water, Teleflora and other brands have donated $20 million to the California Institute of Technology for the Resnick Sustainability Institute. The new center, which will focus on using science and engineering developments for new energy technologies, has a total budget of $90 million. The Gordon and Betty Moore Matching Program contributed another $10 million to launching the project.

In a press release announcing the gift the Resnicks stated that they are "passionately committed to finding alternative and sustainable energy solutions." Stewart Resnick is a member of the Board of Trustees for the school. Last year the Resnicks made a $55 million pledge to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

[via Los Angeles Business Journal]

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Tags: fiji water, FijiWater, lynda resnick, LyndaResnick, pom wonderful, PomWonderful, stewart resnick, StewartResnick

Big Givers: Lynda and Stewart Resnick at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Big Givers

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has been the recipient of some big gifts lately by people eager to get their name on the door. First we had the Eli Broad's new building now comes the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion. The Resnicks, who own both the Fiji Water and Pom Wonderful brands will give $45 million for new LACMA pavilion designed by architect Renzo Piano. They will also give about $10 million more in artwork. The LA Times notes that Lynda Resnick has a long history with the museum, she has served on LACMA's board of trustees since 1992 and is chair of the museum's acquisitions committee. The new pavilion is expected to open in mid-2010.

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Tags: fiji water, FijiWater, lacma, los angeles county museum of art, LosAngelesCountyMuseumOfArt, lynda resnick, LyndaResnick, pom wonderful, PomWonderful, stewart renick, StewartRenick