Vintage Wine Estates buys Napa distillery

Vintage Wine Estates of Santa Rosa has acquired a majority stake in Splinter Group Spirits, venturing into the high-growth whiskey business that is becoming increasingly competitive.

The acquisition is the first business outside of wineries for Vintage, the nation’s 17th largest wine company doing 1.2 million cases last year, according to Wine Business Monthly. It has brands such as B.R. Cohn and Windsor Vineyards.

“It’s (whiskey) is one of the fastest-growing categories,” said Pat Roney, president and chief executive officer of Vintage Wine Estates. “It complements our high-end wine portfolio.”

Indeed, American whiskey - which includes bourbon, Tennessee and rye categories- grew 7.8 percent in overall growth for 2015, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

It’s not just local wineries getting into the market. For example, Bear Republic Brewing Co. in Cloverdale has bought a 500-gallon still from a Scottish manufacturer and intends to create a unit making whiskey and rum.

Splinter Group Spirits, based in Napa, was formed in 2013 by the Wilkinson family and Dave Phinney, the winemaker at Orin Swift Cellars. The whiskeys, which retail around $50 a bottle, are finished in French oak barrels that have been previously been used for aging Bordeaux varietals such as cabernet sauvignon.

Under the sale, Phinney has sold his interest in the Splinter Group. But winemakers and whiskey aficionados Steve Matthiasson of Matthiasson Wines and Bob Cabral, formerly of Williams Selyem, have joined the new team.

Roney noted that “the winemaker voice is essential to the authenticity of these brands.”

Splinter Group does about 30,000 cases annually, and Roney said he envisions the brand could grow to do “a couple hundred thousand” as Vintage expands the offerings.

Vintage will benefit from the purchase in the wholesale market because it will be able to offer its distributors another craft brand in a different sales category, Roney said. He added that Vintage is exploring another purchase in its wine business, but ruled out getting into the beer market because its distribution channels operate differently.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.