Rack & Riddle Custom Wine Services, one of the largest custom crush and winemaking companies in the North Bay area, today announced its new Healdsburg facility is expected to be functionally operational June 15th, with full capabilities expected August 1st.
A grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony is slated for August 27th for the new wine production facility, which has undergone improvements since October.
"We're thrilled to have expanded our Sonoma County footprint to some 120,000 square feet over the course of just nine months," said Bruce Lundquist, co-owner of Rack & Riddle. "It's been a long-held goal to offer our clients more winemaking options and increased production capabilities. Now, with two locations in the heart of Sonoma County wine country, we can."
Rack & Riddle has occupied its Alexander Valley location, dedicated to crushing and fermenting, since January 1st. The Healdsburg facility, located on Moore Lane a few blocks from the Healdsburg town square, focuses on all phases of sparkling winemaking, as well as still wine bottling and alternative wine packaging.
"The City of Healdsburg is excited to welcome Rack & Riddle's custom winemaking operations to our community," said Healdsburg Mayor Jim Wood. "It fills an important niche in the industry giving smaller producers an opportunity to create world class wines right in town."
Rack & Riddle will be making a full transition out of its original Hopland location - where it was based for seven years - over the next two months. The departure makes way for the Hopland building's new occupant, Duckhorn Wine Co., which is unaffiliated with Rack & Riddle.
"Since our inception, it's been an important part of our strategic business plan to have a Sonoma County presence," said Rebecca Faust, co-owner of Rack & Riddle. "We feel the centrally-located facilities, increased winemaking space, and also the ability to offer either "Healdsburg" or "Geyserville" for clients' back labels, are all attractive benefits we otherwise could not have provided from the Hopland location."
The Sonoma County expansion poises Rack & Riddle as one of the largest custom crush facilities specializing in sparkling wine in California. Rack & Riddle anticipates significant growth through increased bottling, stainless steel tank and tirage storage capacity. As a result of the Alexander Valley expansion, 15 new jobs were created at Rack & Riddle; additional new jobs are expected to be created in coming months.
In the past two years, Rack & Riddle has seen business soar by 40 percent. Production in 2011 grew from 700,000 cases a year to 850,000 cases the following year. In 2013, the company produced more than one million cases of wine on behalf of well over 100 winemaking clients.
"This expansion into Healdsburg and Alexander Valley provides the space we need during an exciting time of unprecedented growth," said Faust. "We very much look forward to calling Sonoma County our headquarters and for ongoing partnerships with the local wineries, businesses and communities in the years to come."
