Terravant appoints new director

 

Alan Phillips has been appointed director of winemaking for all production services for Terravant Wine Company, the new alternating premise and custom-crush winery in Buellton. Phillips joins the team to head-up the service oriented facility, which is specifically designed to suit the needs of small and large ultra-premium wine producers who require a broad availability of services at a single location. 

 

Phillips comes to Terravant with over 30 years of experience in all aspects of the wine business. Most recently he was the general manager at Foley Estates Winery, where he developed the business and crafted award-winning wines for more than a decade. His experience includes almost 20 years in Napa Valley. In 1981, Phillips graduated from UC Davis with a degree in enology. He also spent 10 years at Monticello Cellars, developing a following of small wine producers who needed a facility to make wine. By 1988 Phillips was helping over 70 clients crush, produce, and bottle their individual wines.

 “We had a beautiful new winery and more space than we needed, so we thought let’s share it with others who also wanted to make great wines,” Phillips said. “It was a great experience to be able to work with many different winemakers and collaborate on making so many types and styles of wine. Every harvest was an opportunity to learn something new.”

 

In 1988, the lure of Santa Barbara brought Alan to the Central Coast, where he spent the past decade crafting wines at Foley & Lincourt Wineries.

“I had an amazing opportunity to build something literally from the ground up,” Phillips said. Foley & Lincourt Wines continue to receive high acclaim, earning top scores from critics and a loyal following of wine consumers. 

In the fall of 2007, Alan crossed paths with Randy Pace, a friend from Napa Valley who had relocated to Santa Barbara, who was in the process of developing a new facility called Terravant Wine Company. 

 

Pace, Terravant’s general manager, said, “We needed a winemaker who matched the caliber of our facility, has experience with custom crush and, of course, has intimate local knowledge.”

Terravant Wine Company will open for production this year in the spring and currently provides case good and barrel storage and other services at its facility located at 70 Industrial Way in Buellton. Reservations for winemaking space can be made for the 2008 crush.

 

Pace has over 30 years wine production experience, including a 19-year stint at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as chief operations officer and three years at Bridlewood Estate Winery as general manger.  He has a master’s degree in business administration from Humboldt State University and was the interim director at Allan Hancock College for the Viticulture and Enology Department. Pace also has extensive experience in wine brand marketing as a wine retail buyer.