Creator of The Prisoner, Orin Swift luxury wines reveals next steps after selling spirits business

Dave Phinney, the renowned creator of Napa Valley’s The Prisoner and Orin Swift luxury wine brands, has decided to part ways with the spirits side of his business.

He sold his Savage & Cooke distillery on Vallejo’s Mare Island and related spirits labels to Derek Benham’s Purple Brands, which has been scaling back its west Sonoma County facility wile looking for more capacity to produce its an up-and-coming Redwood Empire Whiskey.

The deal, announced Friday, includes the facility in two historic brick buildings on the former naval base, with a barrel room, tasting room, speakeasy, eatery and private event space. The Redwood Empire team has used the facility to supplement whiskey production in recent years, the company said.

“Demand for our offerings has far exceeded our production capacity for several years,” said Aaron Webb, CEO of Purple Brands. “This move solves that challenge, but it’s not just about expansion—it’s about preserving our tradition of excellence while pushing the boundaries of what we can create.”

Benham launched Redwood Empire Whiskey in 2014 from a custom-built still in Graton near Sebastopol. The amount of spirits sold this year grew 30% from the year before, to 55,000 9-liter cases. A top seller is Pipe Dream Bourbon. Other labels are bottled in bond Grizzly Beast Bourbon and Rocket Top Rye, Screaming Titan Wheated Bourbon, and barrel-aged Haystack Needle.

Redwood Empire plans trade and consumer tours, tastings, dining, and exclusive access to limited barrel selections and one-off releases at Mare Island. The brand is set to fully transition to the new location by the end of January 2025. The distillery and restaurant will remain open for tours and tastings during that time, and all existing bookings for private events will be honored, according to Purple Brands.

Also included in the transaction were all assets for Phinney’s spirits brands, such as Savage & Cooke, Guero and Bad Sweater. The other terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

“It was just the right time to transact, as far as the spirits company goes,” Phinney said Friday. “And what I learned most from being involved in spirits is just how much I love the wine business.”

With that renewed focus, Phinney is now devoting his attention to two new wine brands: OLG (Our Lady of Guadalupe) from the Santa Rita Hills appellation in Central California and Painted Scars from France. OLG, which features Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard he owns, saw its first major commercial release in 2024 and has already found great success, selling out wholesaler allocations for the annual production of around 5,000 cases. Phinney expects the brand to grow to around 10,000 cases in the next year.

Meanwhile, Painted Scars is a rebrand of Phinney’s “workhorse wine” Department 66 label, of which 10,000—20,000 cases are produced annually. Phinney owns all the 300-acre vineyard in France that supplies the grapes for this brand, primarily old-vine Grenache.

In addition to his new wine ventures, Phinney remains deeply involved with the Orin Swift brand, which he sold to Gallo in 2016 for $300 million, the same year he sold The Prisoner Wine Co. to Constellation brands for $285 million. Two years later, he sold his Locations wine brand to Gallo for an undisclosed sum.

Phinney recently signed another long-term contract to continue working with Orin Swift, focusing on winemaking and brand development.

“I’m very, very proud of what we’re doing there — the new tasting room, some new wines coming out, both for on-premise as well as retail,” Phinney said.

The decision to sell the Savage & Cooke distillery was also influenced by Phinney’s previous involvement in real estate development on Mare Island. Phinney had cofounded the Nimitz Group redevelopment company for that project but has since divested his interest, stating that the direction of the partnership was not aligned with his vision.

“Part of the reason the timing was good to sell the spirits company was so I can regain focus and spend more time in France and more time with OLG and Orin Swift,” Phinney explained.

“I never got out of the wine business, by any means,” he said.

Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256.