New warehouse near Ripon shows wine industry is growing

A massive warehouse will rise at the Franzia Winery near Ripon, adding a reported 60 jobs to a California industry that is thriving.

The Wine Group got approval for the 510,000-square-foot project from the San Joaquin County Planning Commission last month. The Livermore-based company is the second-largest wine producer in the world, after E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto.

A Wine Group spokesperson could not be reached for details about the project, including how much wine it will hold and how much the building will cost. The Manteca Bulletin reported that it would add 60 workers to the site at the southeast corner of Highway 120 and Murphy Road.

Franzia dates to 1906, when Guiseppe and Teresa Franzia planted their first vineyard. The first wine was produced in 1915. A second generation revived the winery after Prohibition. The Wine Group acquired it in 1981.

The company makes boxed wine under the Franzia label. Its other brands include Cupcake, Concannon, Big House, Almaden, Corbett Canyon, Foxhorn, Fish Eye and Flipflop. It is not connected with the Franzia family members who own Bronco Wine Co., another big producer south of Ceres.

Meanwhile, the Wine Institute reported 2015 shipments of 275.7 million cases of California products to domestic and export markets. That compares with 268.6 million cases in 2014 and 224 million a decade earlier.

“California wines continue to attract global recognition for their outstanding quality and value,” said Bobby Koch, president and chief executive officer at the San Francisco-based group, in a news release.

Much of the volume came from large wineries in and near Stanislaus County. They include Delicato Family Vineyards, near Manteca, along with Gallo, Bronco and The Wine Group.

Those sales mean jobs, according to a separate report from the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. It said the industry generated 325,000 jobs in California and 786,000 jobs across the nation in 2015.

It starts with people working in the vineyards and wineries. Add to that the tractor dealers, fertilizer suppliers, lenders, truckers and other support for the industry – and the grocers and restaurants that sell the wine. Finally, the experts estimate how many jobs are created in the general economy thanks to all of these wine-related paychecks.

The report, by John Dunham & Associates of New York, was presented at a hearing Thursday of two state Assembly committees at UC Davis.

“Vineyards and wineries are iconic images of the California landscape, but today’s report reminds us that wine and wine grapes are also integral to a vibrant state economy,” said John Aguirre, president of the growers group.

The report estimated that the industry had a $114.1 billion impact on the economy last year. It paid $34.9 billion in wages and $15.2 billion in taxes while giving $249 million to charity.

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "New warehouse near Ripon shows wine industry is growing."