Olive oil producers look to open winery

Couple seek permit to become first vintners in Tassajara Valley
By Paul Burgarino, STAFF WRITER

TASSAJARA VALLEY — Bruce and Dale Ann Springer are pressing forward with an idea to expand their business.
Currently owners of the Winn Olive Oil Co., the Springers are primed to enter the wine market. And while starting up a vineyard in Livermore is not unusual, the location of their winery is distinctive.

The Springers want to make their 23-acre plot in the Tassajara Valley the first winery in the Livermore Wine Country to settle in the region.

"We started growing a modest number of zinfandel and chardonnay grapes, and hope to provide a new service out here." Bruce Springer said. "Hopefully we are able to be self-sustaining, and the area evolves as a wine community."

Of the 35 wineries in the Livermore Valley, none are situated in the primarily agricultural area north of the Alameda/Contra Costa counties line.

"They are identical locations, when you think about it," Springer said. "Both are rural, undeveloped lands. They are pretty much the same."...for more of the story from Inside Bay Area