Will Dramatically Increase Import Options and Accelerate Adoption of Fastest Growing On-Premises Wine Format
Napa, CA and New York, NY, June 17, 2015—The two leaders in the wine on tap category, Free Flow Wines and Gotham Project, today announced a joint venture for a state-of-the-art production facility on the East Coast. The new kegging facility is expected to open in late 2015 in Kearny, New Jersey, subject to regulatory approval. The facility will be adjacent to the largest port in the country for imported wines and will offer kegging and logistics support to wineries, importers and distributors on the East Coast. Both companies will continue separate operations, with the joint facility enabling Free Flow Wines to better service clients on the East Coast and in Europe and allowing the Gotham Project to scale its business.
“This partnership is beautifully complimentary as we have outgrown our current facility and Free Flow Wines is looking to expand their reach and services to the East Coast to better support imported wines,” says Gotham Project Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Bruce Schneider. Free Flow Co-Founder and CEO, Jordan Kivelstadt notes, “In addition to expanding our kegging services for imported wines, this facility provides more logistical efficiency and an expanded platform to keep developing the wine on tap category.”
“Gotham has long been a leader in the wine on tap movement and together we will accelerate the category’s growth, open new markets, and build on our combined passion of the past six years,” continues Kivelstadt. “There is a huge demand for wine on tap nationwide and having two production facilities will allow us to better service accounts bi-coastally.”
Gotham Project will continue to keg and sell their portfolio of wines as they always have, while Free Flow will continue to focus on kegging services, logistics and category building. Free Flow Wines will also continue to maintain their headquarters and West Coast production facility in Napa, CA.
About Gotham Project
Founded in 2009 by winemakers Charles Bieler and Bruce Schneider, Gotham Project is the largest supplier of wine in kegs in the U.S. The Gotham Project’s portfolio includes more than 50 soulful, authentic wines from Coast to Coast and around the world. Gotham Project wines are sold in 30 states and can be found in more than 400 leading on-premises outlets including several Michelin starred and James Beard award winning restaurants. Since 2010 Gotham has eliminated close to 1 million glass bottles from the waste stream that otherwise would end up in landfills. You can find Gotham’s Wine on Tap Manifesto and more information online at www.GothamProject.net.
About Free Flow Wines
Based in Napa, California, Free Flow Wines, founded in 2009 by Jordan Kivelstadt and Dan Donahoe, has emerged as the largest kegging service provider, supporting the wine industry with logistics and marketing to support the wine on tap category. Free Flow Wines delivers the world’s wine brands to the taps of restaurants and venues nationwide. Free Flow Wines’ kegging and logistics services have allowed the wine and hospitality industries to move away from bottles to a sustainable, environmentally friendly way of serving wine on tap, while maintaining wine integrity from the barrel to the tap. Free Flow Wines was has more than 220 wine brands in kegs, such as Frog’s Leap from the Napa Valley, King Estate Winery from Oregon and Diseno from Mendoza, Argentina. Their clients’ wines are offered to a variety of restaurants, premium hotels, sports and entertainment venues nationwide. The company is located in Napa, California, and you can find them online at FreeFlowWines.com, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Flickr @FreeFlowWine. For a list of the premium wines available through Free Flow Wines: http://bit.ly/1np1mP6
