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16 W i n e s & V i n e s J U n e 2 0 1 4 M A Y N E W S J U N E N E W S F airfield, Calif.—As the race continues to assure grape supply to a perennially growing U.S. wine industry, so does the race among wineries buying vineyards. Mean- while, acquisitions by large wine producers mean the "big guys" are getting even bigger. The sellers in at least three of the past month's deals were elderly owners. Modesto, Calif.-based E. & J. Gallo Winery bought Ledgewood Creek Winery in Solano County's Suisun Valley from 84-year-old owner Dean Frisbie for an undis- closed price. The 15,000-case winery founded in 2001 boasts 400 acres of pro- ducing vineyards—and plenty of water from the nearby reservoir Lake Berryessa. Water is a grow- ing concern for many growers in California. Ironically, though Lake Berryessa is in Napa County, all its water goes to Solano and Yolo counties. The climate in Suisun Valley is comparable to parts of Napa Valley, but land is much cheaper. Although Gallo bought the label and a tast- ing room, the giant wine company might just want the grapes. A vineyard of Ledgewood Creek's size could produce 10 times as many cases as the winery currently releases. The tasting room already has been closed, and most of the staff is gone. This part of Solano County southeast of Napa is in the North Coast AVA. The county contains 23 wineries, according to Wines Vines Analytics. Because of its lower costs, Solano County is becoming a magnet for the North Coast wine industry. Caymus Vine- yards is building a large pro- duction and bottling plant there, and suppliers including Encore Glass and Saxco Inter- national have bought nearly 1 million square feet of land in the county in recent months. Paris-based Pernod Ricard is buying Kenwood Vineyards, a leading Sonoma wine brand from F. Korbel and Bros., leav- TOP STORY Vineyard and Winery Acquisitions Continue Adelsheim Vineyard recently purchased a 59-acre site that includes Bryan Creek Vineyard (above).