While much of the California wine business pulls vines and trims payroll, Brassfield Estate Winery has spent the downturn buying land and hiring salespeople, betting on an estate model almost nobody else still runs.
Category: Wine & Agriculture
Sonoma County wine industry, vineyards, farming, agricultural business, and food production news.
Sonoma County’s earliest harvest in decades begins
Sonoma County’s 2026 winegrape harvest began July 16, nearly two weeks earlier than any start the county’s growers association has documented. The crop is light, and growers say that is the point.
Grand jury gives Sonoma’s open-space agency a clean review — and flags a 2031 cliff
The civil grand jury gives Sonoma County’s open-space agency a clean review — and flags the 2031 expiration of the tax that funds it.
Sonoma’s first Mexican American family winery is in bankruptcy court
Robledo Family Winery, Sonoma’s first Mexican American family winery, files for bankruptcy in California wine’s worst quarter in years.
Cloverdale’s own water plan says the city doesn’t need the Eel River dams its vice mayor is fighting to save
Cloverdale’s vice mayor is lobbying Washington to save the Eel River dams. The city’s own water plan says Cloverdale doesn’t need them.