One of California’s oldest wineries has been sold for the second time this year.
Healdsburg’s Simi Winery, founded in 1876, has been acquired by WarRoom Cellars, a fast-growing wine company headquartered on the Central Coast. WarRoom bought the Simi brand from America’s second-largest wine company, the Wine Group, which had purchased the historic winery from alcohol giant Constellation Brands only seven months ago. Simi was part of a major deal in which Constellation offloaded six of its lower-priced wine brands to the Wine Group. A purchase price was not disclosed.
This reshuffling is unsurprising given the wine industry’s current struggles: declining sales amid a 90-year low in alcohol consumption, as well as a major oversupply of wine and grapes, which has led to the removal of more than 38,000 acres of California vines in the past year. Yet WarRoom Cellars is one of the rare cases of growth in the industry…