Nevada City Winery

What Nevada City Winery does

Nevada City Winery is a privately-held boutique winery founded in 1980 and headquartered at 321 Spring Street in downtown Nevada City, California. It is the oldest continuously operating winery in Nevada County and operates from a Sierra Foothills location whose commercial winemaking tradition dates to 1880, prior to a roughly century-long Prohibition-era hiatus. The winery produces a diverse portfolio of low-intervention wines from regional vineyards, with over 300 different wines made since opening, and sells through six integrated revenue streams: an owned tasting room offering flights, glasses, and guided experiences; a three-tier quarterly wine club (3, 6, or 12 bottles at 15-30% discounts); wholesale distribution to local restaurants, shops, and grocery stores managed by a dedicated Sales Account Manager; a wine keg program for events; tiered private event/venue rentals ($125-$2,500); and a high-end private label commemorative bottle program ($15,000 for 300 customized bottles). The venue also houses a rotating local-artist art gallery and a curated artisan gift shop.

The business serves a hybrid customer base spanning wine enthusiasts and Sierra Foothills tourists, local Nevada County residents (captured via weekly Locals' Night programming, live music, and the wine club), event hosts seeking a historic downtown venue, and regional wholesale buyers. Customer acquisition is driven by community-rooted marketing — weekly live music (Thursday Locals' Night, Sunday Afternoon Music), monthly Harmony Books book club, KVMR radio partnerships, ABC News earned media coverage, and an active Facebook/Instagram presence — supplemented by an email newsletter. Commerce is processed through OrderPort, which powers the online shop, wine club subscriptions, and multi-state DTC shipping across 10 U.S. states.

The company is led by a small, women-led team. Cathy Lee serves as Operations Manager & Winemaker after an internal promotion in 2023, working under the mentorship of retired 30+ year winemaker Mark Foster; Cheyenne Skye Coe serves as Lead Tasting Room Host and Cellar Master; Carla Burke manages events, wine club, and wholesale; Rebecca Fischer oversees business and finance; and Nicki Birch leads wholesale accounts. Eco-friendly land management on the winery's 1.25-acre hillside is handled by First Rain Farm using a herd of 80+ goats to reduce wildfire risk. The winery carries no external funding, no parent company, and operates as an independent small business.

Name

Nevada City Winery

Legal name

Nevada City Winery

Website

https://ncwinery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nevada City Winery is a privately-held boutique winery and tasting room in downtown Nevada City, California, producing low-intervention wines since 1980. It serves tourists, local residents, event hosts, and regional wholesale buyers through on-premise tastings, a three-tier wine club, venue rentals, and multi-state DTC shipping.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Winery

NAICS

Wineries (312130), Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (44532), Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (42482), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180), Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine Production & Winemaking (AFAFAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wineries & Vineyards (Tasting Rooms) (THAFALAE), Wine Tastings & Vineyard/Winery Tours (THAJAGAD), Alcohol Subscription & Wine Clubs (Retail) (CRANABAF), Wine Bars (THAFAEAF)

Keywords

• Small batch winery
• Wine tasting room
• Wine club subscription
• Winery venue rental
• Wine wholesale distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Nevada City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Tasting Room Sales: On-site wine tasting experiences, glasses, and flights served at the tasting room bar with various seating options including covered patio, wine library, and art gallery.
2. Wine Club Subscription: Quarterly wine subscription with three tiers (3, 6, or 12 bottles) offering bottle discounts ranging from 15-30%, with pickup or shipping options. Members receive additional perks including weekly member glasses, exclusive events, and venue rental discounts.
3. Retail Wine Sales: Direct sales of bottled wines including Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Barbera, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon through on-site shop and online ordering.
4. Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale pricing offered to local restaurants, shops, and grocery stores, managed by Sales Account Manager Nicki Birch.
5. Venue Rentals: Private event hosting with tiered packages (Gold, Double Gold, Best of Class) ranging from $700-$2,500 base fees plus wine minimums, accommodating 50-125 guests.
6. Keg Wine Sales: Wine sold in kegs (5.16 gallon/1/6 barrel) for on-tap service at events, maintaining freshness from first to last glass with lower cost and less waste.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Nevada City Winery is a small-batch winery that produces and sells award-winning, low-intervention wines from Sierra Foothills grapes, with on-site production beneath its downtown Nevada City tasting room. Its core commercial offerings include on-site tasting experiences and bottle/glass sales, a quarterly wine club subscription, wholesale distribution to local restaurants and retailers, wine keg programs for events, and private venue rentals for celebrations and corporate gatherings.

Product overview

Nevada City Winery is a small-batch winery in Nevada County, California, producing a diverse selection of low-intervention wines. The core offering centers on in-person tasting experiences at their downtown Nevada City tasting room, supported by a wine club subscription service with three membership tiers. The business operates multiple revenue streams including direct wine sales (by the glass, bottle, flight, and keg), venue rentals for private events (with tiered packages), a gift shop featuring local artisan goods, an art gallery showcasing rotating local artists, food service including charcuterie and cocktails, and wholesale distribution to restaurants and retailers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tasting Room Experience

Quantifiable outcome

• 94-point platinum medal and 'Best Barbera' award at 2023 San Diego International Wine Challenge
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• First Rain FarmminorOthers · 15 May 2023First Rain Farm, a family-owned business based in Nevada City, California, provides eco-friendly land management services using goats to clear brush, weeds, and vegetation from the winery's 1.25-acre forested hillside property. The farm's team of expert handlers and 80+ goats clear invasive blackberry bushes and wild grasses to reduce wildfire risk before fire season. The goats traverse steep terrain and provide an entertaining experience for visitors. The service is environmentally sustainable with no fossil fuels or herbicides entering Deer Creek.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lava Cap Winery: Family-owned Placerville (El Dorado County) boutique winery with tasting room, wine club, and small-lot Sierra Foothills production. Comparable boutique production scale and DTC tasting room model in adjacent Sierra Foothills territory.
• Renwood Winery: Amador County winery historically specializing in Zinfandel with tasting room and broader distribution. Competes in the Sierra Foothills Zinfandel category and shares similar varietal focus (Zinfandel, Barbera, Italian varietals).
• Frog's Leap Winery: Renowned Napa Valley estate practicing organic and dry-farmed winemaking with a tasting-room-centric hospitality model. Comparable low-intervention philosophy, women-led transition (with prominent winemaker John wetlaufer training successors), and emphasis on tasting experience over volume.
• Avanguardia Wines: Nevada City-based small-batch winery specializing in Italian and Rhône varietals with a tasting room downtown. Direct geographic peer with comparable varietal portfolio (Barbera, etc.) and DTC focus.
• Szabo Vineyards: Nevada City winery operating tasting experiences in the same historic Gold Rush downtown. Competes for the same wine-tourist traffic and shares a similar small-batch, locally-rooted brand positioning.
• Preston Farm & Winery: Lodi-area farm-and-winery known for low-intervention winemaking, farm-to-table food, art gallery, and rustic tasting room experience. Comparable business model with multi-revenue-stream DTC approach (wine club, food, art, events) and similar craft/low-intervention philosophy.
• Naggiar Vineyards & Winery: Nevada County-based boutique winery producing estate Sierra Foothills wines with a tasting room, wine club, and event venue. Closest geographic and operating-model peer - both target wine country visitors to the Nevada County/Sierra Foothills region with DTC tasting experiences.
• Sierra Starr Winery: Grass Valley (Nevada County) winery operating a tasting room with wine club and event hosting. Same county, same customer base of Sierra Foothills tourists and locals, and similar small-batch production scale.

Broad incumbents

• Ironstone Vineyards: Large Sierra Foothills (Calaveras County) winery with extensive tasting room, event venues, amphitheater, and broad distribution. Larger, more diversified competitor that competes for Sierra Foothills wine tourism at greater scale.

Regional players

• Bella Grace Vineyards: Sierra Foothills (Amador County) boutique estate winery with tasting room, wine club, and event hosting. Comparable small-scale DTC model targeting Sierra Foothills wine tourists but operating in a different sub-AVA.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/NevadaCityWinery
• Instagraminstagram.com/nevadacitywinery
• Xx.com/NCWinery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nevada City Winery