“The closure obviously has major implications, [because] it is not only dropping it off and taking work away from our employees, but it has also been detrimental to our relationships with our customers.

Navigating the construction of a new winery in Napa Valley is tricky under any circumstance, requiring patience and a lot of knowledge to get the proper permits to move forward with the construction. For Dearden and Sleeping Giant, that means it was roughly 10 years between the wine group’s first vintage in 2005 and the county’s approval of their project in 2016.

But as Dearden would find out, the developers, including himself, would soon have to shift their priorities due to the wildfires.

“We got the approval in 2016, but 2017 came and I thought I should let people rebuild their houses before I build because I don’t see a cellar starting up when people need to have their houses renovated. “, did he declare. “Residential and commercial are very different things. “

What he now calls a “noble idea,” Dearden admits that, the delays and everything, it all worked out, no matter how well-being.

“If we had been more on time, we would have opened in early 2020,” he said.

However, slightly dodging the onset of pandemic lockdowns did not necessarily help matters. Market data shows that many building materials – especially metals, steel, copper and wood – have seen price increases due to the pandemic’s impact on the supply chain.