US sparkling wine producer Rack & Riddle has snapped up local Weibel Family Winery for an undisclosed fee.
Founded in 2007, the Geyserville, California-based winery has acquired the family-owned wine producer from Lodi, renaming it Rack & Riddle Lodi.
The custom sparkling wine producer, which also produces private-label wine and is backed by private investment firm SBJ Capital, now has four sparkling winery locations in total. The business, which employs 150 staff, is capable of producing 3.5 million cases of sparkling wine.
The 90,000-square-foot winery will produce Charmat-style sparkling wine and carbonate wines in-line. It contains tanks ranging from 500 to 62,000 gallons, with a capacity of producing one million cases of Charmat wine each year.
The acquisition includes all intellectual property and assets. The majority of Weibel employees have joined the Rack & Riddle staff.
“We have purchased the Weibel Family operation, marking a milestone for Rack & Riddle. The trajectory of our business has clearly mirrored the growing demand in the United States for quality sparkling wine at all price points and methods,” Rebecca Faust and Bruce Lundquist, Rack & Riddle’s co-CEOs, said in a joint statement.
“We look forward to bringing our collective sparkling experience to Lodi to enhance founder Fred Weibel’s legacy. Our goal has always been to be the best of all things sparkling.”
Rack & Riddle added Charmat and inline carbonation processing earlier this year, leasing the Virginia Dare winery facility (previously known as Geyser Peak) from Delicato Family Wines.
Fred Weibel, the founder and former owner of Weibel Family Winery, added: “The Weibel Family Winery legacy could not be in better hands than with the team at Rack & Riddle. Their expertise in sparkling wine is second to none. This is the only company that I trust to continue what my family began so very long ago.”