A large wine-production facility in Santa Maria will close after its multi-generational agriculture family owners decided to relocate operations out of Santa Barbara County because they’re fed up with regulatory agencies.

The Miller Family Wine Co., which had operated at 2717 Aviation Way in Santa Maria, saw its final production after the fall 2023 harvest.

Production activities will move to Northern California.

“We as a business made the decision that we could no longer scale and grow within that facility,” said Nicholas Miller, vice president of sales and marketing officer for Miller Family Wine Co. “That we were too constrained by the geography, costs and legislation from Santa Barbara County to grow anymore. 

“So, we are moving to larger facilities in other parts of California in order to continue to grow and expand our business. We feel it’s very unfortunate. It’s certainly not what we had wanted to do.”

Five generations of his family have been involved in various aspects of agriculture, entering the wine industry in the 1970s. The Millers had conducted assorted operations at the Aviation Way site since the 1990s.

“It’s a very emotional decision for our family. It was not the decision that we wanted to make. It was the decision we kind of felt like our hand was forced in order to be an ongoing, viable business,” Miller said. “It was a very difficult decision for us.”

He declined to say where they plan to move beyond describing it as Northern California, adding that the deal for two facilities remains to be finalized. 

“Santa Barbara County does have the most adverse wine ordinance of anywhere in the state and, I believe, in the country. There are a lot of restrictions against the wine industry,” he said. 

For instance, he said, regulators took an aggressive approach regarding air quality rules, leading the firm to invent new technology to preserve the existing winery operations. 

They also were told they could not expand beyond the current level amid plans to add more tanks and more capacity. 

Rising costs mean they couldn’t stay stagnant, Miller added.

Supporting their decision to relocate, Miller said, is the fact that no other winery has expressed an interest in filling the Aviation Way site. 

“This is the largest winery in Santa Barbara County. It’s the most efficient from any measure you want to put on it,” Miller said, adding that it provided efficient production space for processing, storing and bottling, creating a small carbon emissions footprint. 

“It just seemed like we were always in the crosshairs, never being supported in this county,” he said, adding they were always told what they were doing wrong. 

Layoffs have already occurred, with another round expected once they wrap up activities at the site. Miller could not say how many people were affected, explaining that other firms also operated in the facility. 

“It was a whole ecosystem of folks making wine there,” Miller said.

The Miller family utilized its Santa Maria facility to produce all of its multiple brands but for the Bien Nacido, Solomon Hills and optik labels.

“The vast majority of wines that we make were made at the facility,” he said. 

He estimated that small boutique wineries using the space likely numbered in the low teens. 

The Miller Family Wine Co. facility is one of several falling under The Thornhill Companies, which includes Bien Nacido Estates, Thornhill Ranches and Bagshaw Investments. 

They sold the Paso Robles Wine Services center about two years ago to another winery.  

The former Central Coast Wine Services site in Santa Maria has provided a multi-winery processing and warehouse facility, including a custom crush facility as well as bottling line and winemaking equipment rental. 

The state-of-the-art crush facilities are capable of processing “a staggering 6,800 tons of fruit with 1.6 million gallons liquid storage capacity,” according to The Thornhill Companies, which also said the site has been a national leader in capturing emissions during the fermentation process.

Sitting on 12 acres, the 230,000-square-foot facility off Industrial Parkway near the Santa Maria Public Airport has been listed for sale for $28,750,000, or $125 per square foot, according to Pacifica Commercial Realty.

“Located in the heart of the Central Coast Wine Region, the former Central Coast Wine Services facility offers a multitude of possibilities to a prospective buyer,” the real estate listing states. 

Amenities include high ceilings, temperature-controlled areas, floor drains, heavy power, covered storage/production areas, fire sprinklers, and multiple loading options, including nearby rail access plus easy access to highways 101 and 135.

Listing agents are Jerry Schmidt, Pat Palangi and Mike Kelly with Pacifica. 

The gap between the volume of grapes grown in Santa Barbara County versus the capacity of winemaking in the county has widened, according to comments made during a panel discussion at the Growing Opportunities ag forum hosted by The Economic Alliance Foundation, or EconAlliance, in Santa Maria on Wednesday.

“Sixty percent of the grapes grown in the county are trucking out the county to be made into wine. In comparison in Napa County, the ratio’s 115%. They have more winemaking capacity in the county than they grow grapes in the county,” said Marshall Miller, chief operating officer for Thornhill. “What’s concerning here is that the percentage is changing. We were already a low percentage relative to other growing counties, and that percentage number is going down in Santa Barbara County.”