Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/365438
W i n e s & V i n e s s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 47 imploded when it lost the confidence of its biggest investor, the california public employ- ees' Retirement System (calpeRS). "Their goal was to find and plant the best vineyards, then sell them," Freed explained. "Unfortunately, that didn't generate income during the development phase, and they had significant debt on the property." "on top of that, if the time came to sell dur- ing a recession, as occurred recently, they had a problem." Freed admits that his group bought some of those vineyards, but it's be- come more challenging as wineries scoop up vineyards to ensure grape supply. At the recent Vineyard economics Seminar, couchman admitted, "We continue to buy and sell, but it's harder to buy than three years ago. We don't have any competition among insti- tutional investors, but it's hard now to pencil out the returns." He also commented that vineyard values lag grape prices by one to two years, but they con- tinue to rise as grape prices rise." Though it has vineyards in the North coast, Silverado's largest concentration of vineyards is in Monterey county, calif., and it has been expanding in paso Robles—a prime spot for value cabernet. conditions now are very different from 2005, when a large surplus of grapes forced Silverado into making bulk wine. They hired winemaker Alison crowe and started doing custom crush for private labels and negociant brands that wanted wine rather than grapes. Some customers prefer to buy wine, but most buy grapes. Freed said that recently, this opera- tion has taken about 5% of its production. David Freed can take pride in his 30 years of success in vineyard investment. He contin- ues to shepherd the various financial forums he started, and it's unlikely that we've heard the last of his other activities . Hibernia Business Solutions EQUIPMENT LEASING Leasing is the Smart Financing Alternative • Conserve Working Capital • Lease Used Equipment • Potential Tax Benefi ts www.hibernialeasing.com (925) 356-1386 kenr@hibernialeasing.com SUPPORT RESEARCH & WINE INDUSTRY NEEDS THROUGH THE A M E R I C A N V I N E YA R D F O U N D AT I O N P.O. Box 5779, Napa, CA., 94581 • T: (707) 252-6911 • Email info@avf.org. Visit our Web site at www.avf.org for information on funding and current research projects Finding Solutions Through Research Drs. Golino, Rowhani and others have developed tools to identify grapevine diseases and have used these tools to nd, remove and/or clean up grape variety and clone selections. This plant material is available to growers through the Foundation Plant Services certication program and through grapevine nurseries. For a wealth of useful viticulture and enology research and information, visit AVF.org, iv.ucdavis.edu, enologyaccess.org, or ngwi.org. F I N A N C E