In 1978, six years after Tom and Sally Jordan founded Jordan Vineyard & Winery in the Alexander Valley, there were 180 wineries in existence in Sonoma County and the Napa Valley combined. So much has changed in the last forty years, not just in terms of the total number of wineries found in Wine Country, but also in terms of ownership. After years of reading headline after headline about another family winery selling to a wine group or corporation, we decided to dig into the data and discover exactly how many wineries have changed hands since the 1970s.
Of those 180 wineries, more than 150 are still in business today. Many were sold to corporations or purchased by new families when the founders retired or moved on. Only about one-third—62 wineries in total—are still owned today by the founding families. Jordan is proud to be part of this exclusive club. Second-generation vintner John Jordan took the helm in 2005 and acquired the estate and winery a few years later, ensuring the winery will continue its private ownership long into the future.
Trends in Family Owned Wineries Infographic
We created this infographic to show the fate of family-owned wineries in Napa and Sonoma over the last four decades.
Infographic Data:
Total Number of Wineries: 180
Still Owned by Founding Family: 62
Now Corporate Owned: 65
Closed: 26
Sold to a New Family: 28
Data compiled from independent research using Wines Vines Analytics.
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