Imagery Estate Winery, the art-forward Glen Ellen property that grew out of the Benziger family, has quietly been put on the market by The Wine Group. The listing covers a roughly 20-acre estate that includes vineyards, a tasting room and a fully equipped production facility, although the Imagery brand and inventory are not part of the sale. Brokers say the company stopped producing wine on site about two years ago, and listing agents have not named an asking price. Qualified bids are due later this month.
According to Hilco Global, the offering is being marketed by Onyx Asset Advisors in partnership with Hilco Global and was first circulated in early December. The San Francisco Chronicle notes the parcel sits on Highway 12 in Glen Ellen and that The Wine Group acquired the Benziger and Imagery properties in 2015 before pausing production at the site around 2024. Hilco's announcement about the offering lays out the marketing timetable and describes the sale as a real-estate and equipment package, again excluding the brand and inventory from the transfer.
What the sale includes
Listing materials from Onyx Asset Advisors show the offering covers a 19.56-acre site with roughly 3.82 net acres of vines, about 2.57 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1.25 acres of Malbec. The estate includes an on-site crush pad and barrel cellar, jacketed tank storage of about 250,000 gallons and a permitted production capacity of up to 180,000 cases a year. The brochure also highlights multiple hospitality areas, including a tasting room, lawn space and an on-site gallery, and explicitly states the Imagery brand and inventory are not part of the real-estate package. Those details also appear on the public LoopNet listing for the property.
Why the permit matters
Brokers say the estate's biggest calling card is its hospitality permit, which allows up to 24 large events per year and two events of as many as 400 people, an unusually flexible allowance for Sonoma County. Kevin Otus of Onyx told the San Francisco Chronicle that the permit gives Imagery an edge for buyers looking to run weddings, corporate retreats or hospitality-heavy tasting programs. That kind of event flexibility can turn a production site into a revenue-generating visitor destination, a prospect that has not been lost on would-be buyers.
Imagery's art-forward history
Imagery dates to the 1980s, when Joe Benziger began commissioning original label art that eventually became a defining quirk of the brand. The program grew into a 442-piece collection curated by Bob Nugent, turning the label series into a serious art archive as well as a marketing hook. The Benziger family donated that collection to Sonoma State University in 2016, according to the university's news office, and the works have since been folded into campus exhibitions and study collections. Trade reporting notes The Wine Group acquired the Benziger and Imagery properties in 2015, part of its longer history of portfolio moves in California.
Timeline and buyers to watch
Sale documents from Hilco Global lay out inspection windows and a due-diligence schedule showing qualified bids are due Jan. 21, 2026, with best-and-final offers to follow and an anticipated closing at the end of February. Brokers say the parcel has drawn interest from both wine-industry buyers and lifestyle owners who prize event-ready Sonoma properties; the public LoopNet brochure lists Christian Koulichkov as a lead listing agent. How the sale shakes out will show whether a buyer reopens production at scale or leans harder into the hospitality and events potential.
For Sonoma Valley, the listing is another sign of portfolio reshuffling across the industry following a year of big brand moves, including The Wine Group's acquisition of several mainstream Constellation Brands labels in 2025, which reshaped capacity and ownership patterns in the region. Whoever wins the bid will inherit both production infrastructure and a rare events permit, a mix that could change how that stretch of Highway 12 is used for tastings and weddings.
