Wine country now looking more like cannabis country in California

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SOURCE: SACRAMENTO BEE

URL: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article149815769.html

BY ANGELA HART

The grapevines that line rolling hillsides and sweeping valleys in Northern California’s wine country have become iconic – a symbol of the region’s rustic charm that helped California earn its reputation as a world-class wine and food destination.

But winegrapes have new competition: weed.

California’s legalization of recreational marijuana has led to the beginning of a major transformation of wine country. It’s been just seven months, but already investors are snapping up property where wine was once produced. Vineyard operators are developing expertise in cannabis cultivation. New, specialty marijuana businesses are sprouting up in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. And farmers who have long made a good living by growing and harvesting winegrapes are expressing interest in diversifying with marijuana.

“As a sustainable farmer, you have to be willing to change with the market, and with crops that are profitable,” said Steve Dutton, president of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau.

Farmers, outside investors and cannabis entrepreneurs see the landscape of California’s North Coast changing before their eyes. Their opportunities are particularly ripe in the fertile soils of rural Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties.

“I think that cannabis and wine have amazing potential for a symbiotic relationship, and the reason this region is used for that production is the soil and the air and the unbelievable ecological qualities that we have up here in Northern California that are unique to the world,” said Amanda Reiman, community manager for Flow Kana, which recently bought the flagship Fetzer Vineyards winery property where the label got its start.

Poseidon Asset Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund specializing in cannabis, was the lead investor for the $3.5 million purchase.

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