After nine years, Wargin Wines will be moving its production and tasting room out of Watsonville and into Gilroy.
The winery, which was established in December 2012, was one of the first wineries to settle in the Pajaro Valley in recent years. Wargin kickstarted a number of other ventures in the area, including training El Vaquero Winery’s winemaker Alex Prikazsky.
“This is really where it started,” said Denise Wargin, who owns the business along with husband and winemaker, Mikael Wargin. “We’d like to think we were one of the ‘founding fathers’ of bringing this industry to Watsonville. So this move was not an easy decision. We’re very attached to this town.”
The business will be moving out of its current location at 11 Hangar Way in Watsonville to the Atelier des Savants Fous (formerly the Stomping Ground) co-op in Gilroy, where Wargin Wines has maintained a secondary production operation for the past five years.
Wargin said they had already reached maximum capacity at their Watsonville location prior to the pandemic, and the plan was always to consolidate both locations to a bigger site in the Pajaro Valley.
But when Covid-19 hit, things got a bit more complicated. In addition, in 2020 the city approved retail cannabis locations—causing a lot of places, including the building at 11 Hangar Way, to be bought by such businesses.
“We just ran into the tight Santa Cruz real estate market,” Wargin said. “There really wasn’t a place that we could find to move into. With all the changes, we needed to make a decision of where we were going to land.”
But a lot of positive change comes with the move, as well. The winery recently took on 10 acres of its own fruit in Santa Clara County—a lot for such a small operation. Santa Clara County, Wargin explained, is where the local Italian grape varietals grow, and Wargin Wines specializes in Italian wines. Having production closer to the vineyards will be beneficial to the business, she said.
“In Gilroy…there is a capacity for growth,” she said. “We’ll be able to focus on just making more wine, trying different varietals.”
Tint World opens Gilroy location
Tint World Automotive Styling Centers, an automotive styling and window tinting franchise, has moved to Gilroy.
Formerly based in Morgan Hill, this location is the fourth Tint World center in California and is under the co-ownership of Xan Owens, Michelle Arani and Andrew Arani.
“The Gilroy area lacked an automotive styling center with access to high-quality aftermarket products,” Owens said. “By bringing a Tint World to this community, we are able to guarantee that the residents of Gilroy will receive premium service when they want to customize their vehicles—all from this brand-new, state-of-the-art location.”
Tint World offers a range of auto styling products and services, including window tinting, advanced driver-assistance systems, car stereo upgrades, custom wheel and tire packages, mobile electronics, nano ceramic coatings, paint protection films, security systems and color-change vehicle wraps and vinyl graphics.
“Having operated the Morgan Hill location, Xan and Michelle are very familiar with our team at Tint World,” said Charles J. Bonfiglio, president and CEO of Tint World. “They have the knowledge to ensure their success while continuing to positively impact the Tint World brand. We look forward to seeing this location grow for years to come.”
Tint World is located at 1220 First St. in Gilroy. For information, call 408.645.7773 or visit tintworld.com/locations/ca/gilroy-045.
Parcel split approved on Automall Parkway
The Gilroy Planning Commission approved a request to split a nearly nine-acre plot of land at 6605 Automall Parkway into three separate three-acre parcels on June 3.
The vacant property is located across from the Gilroy Auto Mall.
The proposal by Giacalone Management would result in three graded pads, along with frontage improvements, to allow for future commercial or industrial development.
