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Foley wines expanding into spirits with purchase of distillery

Foley Family Wines is getting into the spirits game.

The Sonoma Valley-based family-owned wine company — which also owns the NHL’s Golden Knights — has officially taken over a restored distillery in Minden .

The facility includes both an American Whiskey and white spirits distillery, housed in a 100-year-old creamery, as well as an American Single Malt Whiskey distillery, which is housed in a 100-year-old flour mill.

“The distillery was built by the Bently family starting in 2015,” said Nora Feeley, the vice president of public relations, luxury events and consumer engagement for Foley Family Wines. “Over a four-year period they restored the sites on the National Register of Historic Places to LEED Certification standards with the ambition of making some of the best distilled spirits in America.

Included in the acquisition is approximately 23,000 nine liter cases of Bourbon, Single Malt Whiskey and Rye made by the previous owners at the Minden site.

“We plan to bottle and sell this whiskey going forward,” said Feeley. “The aged liquid and the capabilities here are word class and we look forward to continuing to age and release when they are ready, while also exploring white spirits.

Minden, which is located southeast of Lake Tahoe in Carson Valley close to the California border, is known for being a historic manufacturing and agricultural town. It sits at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.

When it comes to what alcohol consumers are wetting their taste buds with lately, Feeley said whiskey is all the rage as it is currently the largest subcategory on Drizly, an online liquor store. She also noted that Information Resources Inc., a data analytics and market research company, reports that “for wine, consumers are shifting to premium and the on-premise beverage alcohol category is returning to pre-COVID levels… There are varying statistics and outlooks on the industry, but consumer demand for spirits is increasing.”

Bill Foley, the founder of Foley Family Wines, holds a vast portfolio of businesses in Nevada including Golden Knights, the Henderson Silver Knights American Hockey League team, the Vegas Knight Hawks indoor football team, City National Arena, Lifeguard Arena, The Dollar Loan Center, and the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished in Nevada,” Foley said in a press release, “and I’m looking forward to introducing our spirits to the marketplace.”

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com or 702-348-3967.

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