Another well-known local business just closed its doors and reportedly went up for sale: Sbragia Family Vineyards, a homegrown winery and tasting room at 9990 Dry Creek Rd., right near the mouth of Lake Sonoma. A note posted to the winery’s website says the closure is “temporary” and that “we look forward to welcoming you back again very soon.”
Napa Valley is already home to 17 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), and now a new one has been added to the mix, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Crystal Springs is now an official AVA approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau; the proposed area had been working its way through the system for four years before gaining its status this month.
There is no imperative—social, cultural, economic, or regulatory—that requires alcohol laws to be discriminatory; to be protectionist. And yet, a huge swath of the state laws that govern alcohol sales and distribution are just this. The most familiar discriminatory laws fall into the category of direct-to-consumer shipping. However, an equally discriminatory set of alcohol laws impacts how retailers procure inventory.
The Sonoma-Cutrer brand owner’s CEO described the deal as “excellent news for the future of our company”. US private-equity firm Butterfly Equity has struck a deal to buy wine group The Duckhorn Portfolio. Butterfly Equity, which has investments in the food and beverage sectors, said its all-cash bid values the California-based business at $1.95bn.
California has passed dozens of bills in recent years aiming to incentivize new housing, but not all of them have been effective in getting more homes built, as opponents have found workarounds to resist new construction.