New York Times 25 April 2013
Needing financing for his California vineyard, Ed Sbragia turned to a private equity group that invests in wine-related businesses. When Ed Sbragia started Sbragia Family Vineyards, it was an accomplishment that was nearly a century in the making.
His grandfather moved from Italy to California in 1904 to work in the wineries just north of San Francisco. In the 1940s, Mr. Sbragia’s father bought property in the Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg and planted zinfandel grapes, which he sold to local winemakers and used for his own home wine.
Mr. Sbragia, 64, got his start in the wine business at Beringer Vineyards, one of Napa Valley’s oldest, and worked his way up to become one of the most decorated winemakers in the region.
He teamed up with his son Adam in 2002 to make limited lots of wine sourced primarily from the family property. When a small vineyard and facility 10 miles up the road went on the market in 2006, it was an opportunity he could not pass up.
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