establishing a full-service custom crush specializing in natural wine and organic grapes. Unsurprisingly, 2020 proved a difficult year to establish the business. COVID, combined with a smokey harvest season, put a damper on Magnolia’s first- year numbers but they’ve experienced positive growth since. 2023 was the biggest year for the facility to date, with 24 clients processing a collective total of 250 tons of fruit. Sporer is optimistic that this growth trend will continue. Pricing at Magnolia depends on lot size and the specific needs of each winemaker, but tends to range between $2,000 and $3,000 per ton of grapes. For context, one ton of grapes yields roughly 120 gallons of wine, which is two barrels, aka 50 cases, or 600 bottles. This fee gets wine from the crush pad to the bottling line. The facility was almost at capacity this past harvest, but they are always willing to make space for the right clients. In addition to Magnolia, many independently owned wineries throughout the North Bay operate as custom crushes, offering space and services to natural winemakers on the side. Pax Mahle Wine in Sebastopol is a well-established, shared winery that serves as home to a rotating cast of winemakers including Martha Stoumen Wines, Emma Wines, Pax and others. Two Shepherds, a natural winery in Windsor, also offers its space to other winemakers including Unturned Stone and Glassmaker Wine. While they are not full-service custom crushes, these are important shared spaces that operate in a similar manner to Magnolia, serving as additional hubs of natural winemaking in Sonoma County.
In order to encourage healthy native yeast fermentation, natural winemakers must start with pure, organic fruit from vineyards with rich biodiversity, unhampered by the spraying of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides. Post-fermentation, natural winemakers do not add or subtract anything throughout the winemaking process, letting nature guide the way and the grapes and their terroir do the talking. Meet Magnolia Wine Services When it comes to natural winemaking in the town of Sonoma, Magnolia Wine Services has become an epicenter and crucial community resource in the short span since opening its doors. Sonoma-native Jack Sporer worked harvests around the globe before returning home to launch Fresco, his natural wine label, in 2019. At the time, Sporer and his uncle, fellow winemaker Will Bucklin, were both crushing at Enkidu, the winery that would later become Magnolia, with Sporer working as production manager. Enkidu lent out 75% of its space for custom crush clients before ultimately deciding to put the winery up for sale. Presented with the decision to move either both of their productions to a new winery or purchase the existing winery, Sporer and Bucklin decided to buy. “It was a combination of good timing and knowing the space,“ Sporer explains. “When [Enkidu] went up for sale, it seemed like a good fit. The cost of building a winery was prohibitive but moving into an existing one, with some existing custom crush customers, made it more financially feasible.” Sporer and Bucklin bought-in to Magnolia Wine Co. in 2020,
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54 NorthBaybiz
April 2024
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