R.H. Phillips Winery to close

R.H. Phillips Winery, one of the Sacramento area?s largest winemaking operations, will close Sept. 1.

The winery is being shut by its parent company, Constellation Brands Inc. Production of Toasted Head and R.H. Phillips wines will be moved to a facility near Lodi that makes Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi wines.

Constellation will retain R.H. Phillips? 1,700 acres of vineyards, in the Dunnigan Hills area of Yolo County.

?(The closure) is part of an ongoing strategic initiative for efficiency,? Constellation spokeswoman Nora Feeley told the Sacramento Bee. ?We could produce the wines and keep the grapes but produce them with no damage (to quality) to the wine at Woodbridge.?

R.H. Phillips was founded in 1983 and went public in 1995. The company was sold in 2000 to Vincor International Inc., Canada?s largest wine company. Constellation Brands acquired Vincor in 2006.

R.H. Phillips sells more than a half-million cases of its Toasted Head line of chardonnay, which is priced around $10 a bottle. Its other brands sell about 250,000 cases each year.

-- Press Democrat staff and wire report