Woodbridge to begin producing two new brands of wine

Constellation Brands has announced plans to shut down its winery in Esparto and produce wines under the Night Harvest by R.H. Phillips and Toasted Head labels at its Woodbridge Winery in Acampo.

The move will increase wine production and the number of workers at Woodbridge, although the corporation plans to transfer workers from Esparto rather than make new hires.

Michael Othites, Constellation's senior vice president for wine production operations, said the company is trying to take care of its current employees as it shuts down the Esparto winery. About 50 employees work at the winery and some have plans to relocate or make the commute to Acampo, he said.

Esparto is located about 35 miles north of downtown Sacramento.

A portion of Toasted Head's winemaking operations have already been transferred down to Woodbridge, Othites said. Toasted Head wine has been bottled in Woodbridge for a couple of years and about 20,000 barrels of Toasted Head is already on site.

Othites said the company has plans to increase Woodbridge's processing total by 12,000 tons of fruit and add several new tanks to expand storage capacity.

He would not offer a dollar amount on how much Constellation will save by the move, but did say it would be significant.

"In this economy, like most businesses, we're looking for opportunities and ways to save money," he said. The savings were enough to offset the capital costs of the move, Othites said, adding that Woodbridge had the capacity to absorb the added production.

The Esparto winery will likely stay idle until Constellation finds a buyer.

Othites said a few parties have expressed interest but none have been willing to pay fair value for the property.

"Right now going we're going to leave it idle and we're really going to wait and see what happens," he said. "Down the road, who knows? This business changes so much."

Night Harvest by R.H. Phillips, previously named R.H. Phillips, first opened in 1984 and sources its grapes from vineyards in the nearby Dunnigan Hills.

Toasted Head wines are also produced at the same winery in Esparto and from grapes grown in the Dunnigan Hills.

Nora Feeley, Constellation's vice president of corporate communications at the firm's San Francisco office, said the move should be complete by Sept. 1 and Constellation will honor all reservations for weddings or other events that have been booked at the Esparto location.

Feeley said Night Harvest makes about 250,000 cases and Toasted Head produces around 540,000.

Two winemakers from the Esparto winery, Blake Kuhn and Owen Smith, are relocating to Woodbridge along with their winemaking equipment. Feeley said the wine will continued to be made from grapes from the same vineyards.

The Woodbridge winery produces a line of wine labeled Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi in honor of the fact Mondavi opened the winery in the '80s.

Constellation purchased the Woodbridge winery as part of its take over of the Mondavi company in 2004. Constellation is the world's largest wine business, and in addition to Woodbridge Winery, it owns Turner Road Vintners in Lodi.

In addition to the Woodbridge and Robert Mondavi's Private Selection line of wines, Othites said Constellation also makes Twin Fin, Rex Goliath and its Papio brands at Woodbridge.