TRINCHERO ESTATES SELLS ZINFANDEL RANCH

Trinchero Family Estates, maker of “Three Thieves” and “Sutter Home,” has sold its Zinfandel Ranch vineyard and wine production facility to new local wine industry investment group, Rutherford Studios, for an undisclosed sum.

Approximately 75 acres, the site includes the well known Chicken Ranch Vineyard, cabernet sauvignon (20 acres) and merlot (6 acres), a warehouse, fermentation building, tank farm, commercial kitchen and six dwellings as well as other out-buildings and offices. It’s important to note that Chicken Ranch will continue as a source of grapes for Trinchero’s Napa Valley program.

Trinchero will continue to hold a 30-year lease on the Zinfandel Ranch's cabernet sauvignon and merlot vineyards and a four-year lease on its production facilities, the company said last week.

The sell will reportedly allow the Trinchero family to move a quantity of production to a better suited location, the much larger Westside production and storage facility in Lodi.

Industry veteran Mark Beringer, former executive winemaker at Duckhorn Wine Co., will manage the Zinfandel Ranch facility for Rutherford Studios.