The Wine Foundry Acquires Small Lot Custom Crush Facility in Napa

NEWS RELEASE
July 29th, 2014

Sonoma, CA – The Wine Foundry has purchased the custom crush operations and facility of Juice Box in Napa and will be moving its operations to the new location.

The Wine Foundry currently operates out of Opal Moon Winery located in the 8th Street Winery Park in Sonoma. The company is owned by a subsidiary of CastleGate Capital Advisors, LLC, which launched The Wine Foundry in August of 2012.

The Wine Foundry provides a one–stop shop for custom wine production offering a full range of services for wine enthusiasts, vineyard owners, and entrepreneurs, including everything from fruit sourcing to label design and e-commerce solutions for direct to consumer sales. The company’s 2014 vineyard guide includes 28 vineyards from California’s finest wine growing
regions including Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Santa Barbara counties.

Steve Ryan, the General Manager of The Wine Foundry, is enthusiastic about the move. “Over the last two years,” explains Ryan, “our team has focused on executing our business model and earning the confidence of our clients. This acquisition is the next step in our evolution, which will enable us to expand our service offerings into traditional custom crush for small lot
producers and work with some very talented winemakers and additional prestigious vineyards.”

The Wine Foundry plans to add several Juice Box employees to its winemaking team, led by Patrick Saboe. “Patrick has done a tremendous job of delivering extremely high quality wines over the past few years,” continues Ryan, “and we’re very excited about the addition of the personnel. The facility and equipment are extremely well suited for ultra-premium, small lot
production. We will continue to work with prior Juice Box customers, and we’ll have additional capacity to take on new customers for the 2014 crush.”

The new facility includes a tasting room with an appealing modern aesthetic, which will make an ideal venue for private events held by The Wine Foundry or its clients. Stuart Ake, Vice President of Accounts, notes the advantages of the new space for his clients.

“In addition to crafting outstanding wine,” explains Ake, “The Wine Foundry delivers an immersive wine making experience. Many clients are hands-on, and the new facility offers opportunities for them to showcase their production, host release parties, and mingle with their customers, distributors and brokers.”

For more information, go to www.thewinefoundry.com or email makewine@thewinefoundry.com

About CastleGate
CastleGate Capital Advisors is an operationally focused San Francisco Bay Area private equity
firm that provides investment capital and advisory services to both healthy and challenged, early
stage and lower-middle market companies headquartered in the Western United States. The firm
invests in a wide variety of industries and specializes in working with entrepreneurs and family
businesses. For more information about CastleGate Capital Advisors, go to
www.castlegatecap.com or email info@castlegatecap.com.