Gallo, Hotaling Close Doors at Bay Area Locations

Some of Northern California’s most recognizable alcohol brands are closing their facilities in the Bay Area.

Gallo, the largest wine producer in the U.S., is shuttering its Ranch Winery production facility in St. Helena and laying off 93 employees across five sites, the San Francisco Business Times reported. In St. Helena, Gallo is cutting its staff at the Ranch Winery, Louis M. Martini Winery and the Orin Swift Tasting Room; the company is also lowering its headcount in Healdsburg at its J Vineyards & Winery and Frei Ranch facilities.

Gallo is continuing to slim down its portfolio with the latest Napa Valley closures. In 2024, the company sold two winemaking facilities. Last July, it announced the closure of another in San Miguel.

It isn’t the only wine maker trimming its real estate holdings on the West Coast. Earlier this month, Foley Family Wines & Spirits sold its production facility on the Central Coast. Trinchero Family Wine & Spirits, the country’s third-largest wine company, has listed two of its vineyards for sale.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, local spirits producer Hotaling & Company announced the closure of its Pier 50 distillery, Robb Report reported. Hotaling was originally founded in 1993 as Anchor Distilling Company, an offshoot of the popular brewery purchased by magnate Fritz Maytag in the 1960s that made Anchor Steam, among other beers. Sapporo acquired the company in 2017 and split the distillery and brewery operations, but the brewery ultimately closed in 2023. Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya announced his intention to purchase Anchor in 2024, though no deal actually happened, according to Robb Report.

The decision to close the Pier 50 distillery came after “a comprehensive review of [Hotaling’s] long-term growth priorities and capital allocation,” Hotaling told Robb Report. Both Junipero Gin and Old Potrero Rye, originally launched by Anchor Distilling, will continue to be sold and will be distilled at Corning & Company in Rohnert Park.

— Chris Malone Méndez