Ravenswood’s original winery hits the market at $5.3 million
Visitors to the original Ravenswood Winery near Sonoma make their way down the tasting room steps in this file photo from when the it was operating. (PD file photo)
The Ravenswood wine brand is back on store shelves with a new look under different ownership, but the winery and tasting room near Sonoma where the brand began 46 years ago awaits a new owner.
The 23-acre property at 18701 Gehricke Road and 1045 Bart Road is among dozens of residential and commercial properties in Sonoma and Solano counties and beyond that are being sold to pay off lenders and hundreds of largely small-scale investors in the LeFever Mattson real estate portfolio.
Over five dozen entities that hold the properties filed for bankruptcy protection in September. In February and March the court approved the listings of the properties.
The original Ravenswood winery went on the market Wednesday for $5.3 million, according to the listing by Mark Stornetta of Compass Realty Sonoma. Included are nearly 13,000 of production and tasting room plus 10 acres of vines planted to Zinfandel, Merlot and other varieties.
Joel Peterson started the winery in 1979 and opened the tasting room in 1985, expanding it nearly a decade later. He sold to Constellation Brands in 2001. Gallo bought Ravenswood in 2021 as part of an $810 million deal for 32 brands, and the brand was relaunched earlier this year.
LeFever Mattson’s Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group acquired the original Ravenswood winery in 2019 with plans to produce on site new brand Harrow Cellars and newly acquired brand Sojourn Cellars. County approval was secured to remodel the 1,200-square-foot tasting room, but that project never progressed.
The winery is among more than 20 properties Compass California II was authorized by the court to list for sale.