Esther Mobley

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Jess Lander |Esther Mobley

Parkgoers toast with High Noons at Dolores Park over Memorial Day weekend. Kelsey McClellan/For the S.F. ChronicleIt’s America’s unofficial beverage of beach days, tailgates, frat parties and music festivals. Its tagline is simple: “real vodka + real juice.” But this slender can of High Noon, with its cheery yellow sun set against a blue sky, is the surprising growth vehicle for the largest wine company in the country, a product that’s rewritten the rules of the alcohol industry.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Esther Mobley

Almanac vice president of sales Kevin Scoles, left, and CEO Damian Fagan stand in the sandbox at Almanac Adventureland in Alameda. Carolyn Fong/For the S.F. ChronicleToddlers are climbing a plastic slide in the middle of a gigantic sandbox at Almanac Adventureland in Alameda, their parents slurping frosé at picnic tables nearby. Indoors, kids are springing up and down in a bouncy house, while adolescents are frantically twitching their wrists at the pinball machines.

1 month ago | farmlandgrab.org | Esther Mobley

San Francisco Chronicle | 17 May 2025A new type of investor is buying up California wineries. Here’s why it’s controversialBy Esther MobleyA form of investment once rare among California wineries is quietly reshaping the industry. Private equity firms — notorious for buying up private companies, often with the goal of selling them quickly — have lately accelerated their investments in California wineries, targeting famous Napa Valley estates.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Esther Mobley

Spring Mountain Vineyard, now owned by MGG Investment Group, is one of several Napa estates that has private equity backing. Santiago Mejia/S.F. ChronicleA form of investment once rare among California wineries is quietly reshaping the industry. Private equity firms — notorious for buying up private companies, often with the goal of selling them quickly — have lately accelerated their investments in California wineries, targeting famous Napa Valley estates.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Esther Mobley

Jason Jardine entering the cave at Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma, which recently changed the format of its wine tasting experience. Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle 2022Every year, when I fact-check the tasting fees for my Top Sonoma County Wineries guide — whose annual update we published today — I expect prices to have inched upward. There’s inevitably a handful of wineries that have raised tasting fees modestly, say from $30 to $35. In this economy, who can blame them?