In Sonoma Valley, the Wine Brand Leaves but the Permit Stays
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
Three of the most closely watched Sonoma Valley winery properties of 2026 have come to market. In each case the wine brand was left out of the deal, its future was unclear, or it was caught up in restructuring. Kenwood Vineyards' winery on Sonoma Highway closed in March for $4 million, and the Press Democrat reported that the fate of the brand itself "isn't immediately clear." The Wine Group put Imagery Estate's Glen Ellen property up for bids and said outright that the Imagery brand was not included. On September 23, Gundlach Bundschu filed for Chapter 11. That leaves the Abbot's Passage property in Glen Ellen, which the family had planned to sell, inside a court-supervised case.
A buyer who walks into one of these sites is buying land, buildings, tanks and a Sonoma County use permit. The club list, the label art and the name on the sign tend to stay with the seller. That puts most of the price on the permit, and Sonoma County's rules make some of those permits very hard to replace.
| Property | Size and location | What was offered | What stayed out or remains unresolved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenwood Vineyards winery | Nearly 33 acres, 9592 Sonoma Highway | Real estate, sold March 26, 2026 for $4 million to Kenwood Winery Land LLC | Future of the 56-year-old Kenwood brand not disclosed |
| Imagery Estate Winery | 19.56 acres, 14335 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen | 55,000-square-foot production facility and tasting room, 250,000 gallons of storage, permit for up to 180,000 cases a year | Imagery brand kept by The Wine Group; no sale result reported after the January 21 bid deadline |
| Abbot's Passage | Madrone Road, Glen Ellen | Family said it intended to sell the acreage and custom-crush facility | Sale may be limited by the Gundlach Bundschu Chapter 11 case |
The table shows the same pattern three times over. Each owner treated the operating business and the property as separate assets. The Wine Group's broker at Hilco Real Estate, Christian Koulichkov, called Imagery "a non-core asset." The company said Imagery remains "a key brand" in its portfolio. Its statement also said it might lease the existing tasting room back from a new owner, or move direct-to-consumer sales to the nearby Benziger estate. In that case, a seller that keeps its brand could end up as the buyer's tenant.
On March 14, 2023, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors adopted its winery events ordinance by a 3-2 vote. Supervisors Lynda Hopkins, James Gore and David Rabbitt voted yes, and Supervisors Susan Gorin and Chris Coursey voted no. The ordinance followed close to a decade of disputes over traffic, safety and water use. It defines a winery event as one held outside regular business hours that also exceeds regular site capacity. It also bars outdoor amplified sound after 5 p.m. for certain meetings, seminars and harvest parties.
The ordinance mostly reaches permits that have not yet been issued. According to the staff report cited at the time, the county oversaw 464 winery permits, and 307 of them authorized events and tasting rooms. Those 307 do not fall under the new rules "unless and until they seek permit changes." County staff had already named Sonoma Valley, along with Dry Creek Valley and Westside Road, as a potential concentration area. Their reason was that existing winery and event rights, combined with limited road networks, add up to cumulative traffic and neighborhood impacts. Gorin represents Sonoma Valley. After the vote she predicted "neighborhood groups opposing every winery application and attorneys getting involved."
For a buyer, this means an existing Sonoma Valley permit with generous event terms was written under rules that a new applicant no longer gets. It remains valid under its approved terms. Every county permit is specific to its property, and the activities it allows were set by that site's constraints and the original operator's marketing plan. That is why two properties of similar size along Sonoma Highway can support very different businesses.
The way Imagery was marketed shows where the sellers placed the value. Kevin Otus, founder of Onyx Asset Advisors, represented the seller and told the San Francisco Chronicle:
"What's unique is the hospitality flexibility."
The Chronicle reported that Imagery's permit allows up to 24 large events a year, including two for up to 400 people, and that unlike most Napa and Sonoma wineries the site may host weddings. The vineyard is a small part of the offering, at nearly 4 acres with just over 2.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1.25 acres of Malbec. The Wine Group had made no wine on site for two years. Even so, Koulichkov described interest from both wine-industry buyers and "lifestyle" buyers, and credited the lawn and bocce court with appealing to both.
The marketing put the production capacity and the event rights at the front. Those two things outlast the brand. A buyer could use the same 180,000-case license for a new label, for custom crush, or for weddings, as long as the activity fits the existing permit. No price was ever made public, and local coverage has not reported a buyer or a closing since bids were due on January 21.
Kenwood is the one 2026 Sonoma Valley winery sale in local reporting with a recorded price. Public records show the nearly 33-acre property at 9592 Sonoma Highway sold on March 26 for $4 million to Kenwood Winery Land LLC, a company led by F. Korbel & Bros. owner Gary Heck. Three days earlier, Pernod Ricard had filed a CalWARN notice for a "total closure" of the winery effective March 31, affecting 14 employees.
The Press Democrat set the price next to the May 2014 sale, when Korbel sold Kenwood to Pernod Ricard in a deal estimated at under $100 million. County records valued only the real-estate portion of that deal at $7.2 million. Treat that comparison with care. The 2014 figure is a records valuation inside a larger brand acquisition, and the 2026 figure is a property sale on its own with the brand's status undisclosed. The two transactions do confirm that one Sonoma Valley winery has now changed hands as a business and later as real estate, and that the buyer in 2026 was a returning owner. Korbel had expanded Kenwood from under 300,000 cases to more than half a million before the 2014 sale. Heck said the company was "still in the early stages of evaluating next steps."
Few Sonoma Valley sites have permits like these, and before 2026 few of them came up for sale. This year, financial strain is putting them on the market. Gundlach Bundschu has farmed its land east of the town of Sonoma since 1858. It cut operating costs by more than 50 percent over 18 months and reduced its workforce from 120 to 63. It also received three letters of interest from potential investors or buyers, but its two principal lenders, Tiverton Advisors and American AgCredit, would not approve a deal. At Tiverton's request, the Sonoma County Superior Court appointed a receiver without a hearing. The company carries about $37 million in debt, is negotiating with an unnamed investor, and expects the family to keep a minority stake.
CEO Jeff Bundschu's court declaration links the strain to the February 2020 purchase of the Madrone Road estate for $11.6 million, financed with a large loan, to house the Abbot's Passage label. The Press Democrat describes that purchase as 60 acres, and July coverage described a 42-acre property, so a buyer should confirm parcel boundaries before comparing it with anything else. Retail sales at Abbot's Passage stopped in July, and the facility was scheduled to close in early October. Robledo Family Winery in Sonoma Valley also filed for Chapter 11 on April 8 and was expected to keep operating.
The pressure is coming from the wider wine market. Rob McMillan of Silicon Valley Bank expects the industry to reach a bottom next year or in 2028, ending up "permanently smaller, highly consolidated." The 2026 North Coast crop came in early and light. In July, spot prices for uncontracted grapes were described as "pretty abysmal." By September, Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc had mostly cleared at around the 2025 district average of $1,871 per ton. At those fruit prices, selling grapes is a weak way to carry a winery property. A permit that allows paid visits and events gives a buyer another way to cover the cost.
The new state vineyard-tasting law can look like a way to get hospitality rights without a county permit. Under AB 720, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control began taking applications on January 1, 2026 for a Type 93 permit. It lets qualified winegrowers host tastings in vineyards they own or control, with up to 36 event authorizations a year. ABC says the permit does not replace local land-use approval. Sonoma County's interim approach is narrower. Permit Sonoma Director Scott Orr described up to 12 vineyard events a year with 20 or fewer guests, no permanent structures, and events that must actually take place in the vineyard. Any longer-term policy may come through the county's General Plan update, which Orr said the county aims to finish by January 2029. A dozen small tastings a year adds a little. It does not come close to two 400-guest events or a wedding calendar.
When a Sonoma Valley winery comes to market without its label, the permit is what you are buying, and it pays to understand it before you agree on a price. Wine Country Consultants reviews production licenses, event rights and receivership terms with the appraisers, lenders and land-use specialists in our network before an offer is written. Schedule a confidential consultation to go through a specific Sonoma Valley permit in detail.
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