Napa vineyard manager cuts 57 jobs

After losing a major contract, Premier Pacific Vineyards, a Napa-based vineyard portfolio manager, laid off 57 of its employees at the end of 2011.

The layoff was effective Dec. 31, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.

Premier Pacific and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) had managed its vineyard properties.

“We created the finest portfolio of high-end vineyards in the U.S.,” Dick Wollack, CEO of Premier Pacific Vineyards, said. “We developed 19 vineyards and we chose the land, developed the vineyards and sold the grapes. We’re proud of what we did.”

But the portfolio was no match for the recession, which gutted the market for higher-end wines, officials said.

“It was the economy,” Wollack said. “CalPERS wanted to liquidate the portfolio; they wanted to hire different management.”
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