Winery Dates to 1852 : Heublein to Buy Almaden; Terms Not Disclosed

After two decades in the California wine industry, National Distillers & Chemical Corp. said Tuesday that it has agreed to sell its sprawling San Jose-based Almaden Vineyards to Heublein Inc.

Terms were not disclosed, but industry experts value Almaden’s assets at from about $125 million to more than $150 million.

New York-based National Distillers said in September that it planned to sell its wine and spirits division to concentrate on its petrochemical and propane operations. The company has yet to find buyers for most of its brands, which include Vat 69 Scotch, Gilbey’s gin and vodka, Windsor Supreme Canadian whisky, Old Grand Dad bourbon and DeKuyper cordials.

National Distillers also said Tuesday that it had bought the outstanding minority stake in John DeKuyper & Son to help it sell that subsidiary.

Second-Largest Producer

Heublein, a Connecticut-based unit of RJR Nabisco Industries, would become California’s second-largest wine producer by acquiring Almaden and would account for 10.5% of the state’s wine shipments. Heublein already owns the prestigious Beaulieu and Inglenook Vineyards in the Napa Valley.

California’s leader in the industry, the Modesto-based E & J Gallo Winery, accounted for 39.3% of California’s wine shipments for the first nine months of 1986, according to Gomberg-Fredrikson Associates, a San Francisco consulting firm.

Jon Fredrikson, president of Gomberg-Fredrikson, said Heublein-Almaden’s combined annual sales of about $250 million are about one-third of those estimated for privately held Gallo.

Almaden Vineyards claims to be the nation’s oldest producing winery. It was founded in 1852 by Charles Lefranc and Etienne Thee, Frenchmen attracted to California by the Gold Rush. They settled near San Jose on the site of Almaden’s present main winery, and named their winery New Almaden after a nearby quicksilver mine.

Almaden makes a full range of table, sparkling and dessert wines and brandy. It is best known for its jug wines and medium-priced varietals, the sector of the industry where competition has been the stiffest.

National Distillers, founded 64 years ago as a liquor producer before branching into chemicals in 1950, bought Almaden in 1967.

Two Major Wineries

Fredrikson said Almaden’s assets include two major wineries, extensive vineyards, a huge inventory, bottling and warehousing facilities and an effective national sales force.

Adding Almaden’s broad product line to Heublein’s present winery holdings “gives them a strong spectrum,” said Eileen Fredrikson, who is Jon Fredrikson’s wife and a partner in Gomberg-Fredrikson. “Almaden has continued to generate solid business in the very competitive (low-price) end of the business without going in for wine coolers,” she said.

“We were unhappy that National gave up,” she added, “but Heublein is positive--a solid player showing confidence in the California wine market.”