DH Wine Compliance plans to relocate from the Sonoma County airport area in mid-2025 to an office building it purchased in Windsor. The founder reflects on how the business has evolved with agency tech adoption and a recent industry slowdown.

DH Wine Compliance, which helps the wine business stay in line with federal, state and local regulations nationwide, will be getting a new home this year, its 15th in business.

An affiliate of the Sonoma County-based company purchased a 9,950-square-foot office building in Windsor on Dec. 30, 2024, for $2.2 million, according to public records.

Founded in 2010 by Drea Helfer, DH Wine Compliance has been operating out of 2,237 square feet at 5570 Skylane Blvd, Suite A, north of Santa Rosa. The move to the new building will provide the company with a permanent home and room for future growth, according to Helfer.

"It's a big step for the company," she said. "We've been renting for the past 15 years, and it just feels great to have a place that we can call our own. It's also exciting to be able to move the business into the town of Windsor, where I've lived since 2005."

The new building, located at 800 Edgewood Place, is currently occupied by Fidelity National Title on the first floor and Gallagher Insurance on the top floor. DH Wine Compliance plans to move into the upper floor once Gallagher’s lease expires in the middle of this year.

Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in 2018 acquired Rogers & Young Insurance Services, a brokerage founded in 1958 that occupied that building. A trust for Rogers & Young co-owner Jeff Young was the seller of 800 Edgewood.

DH Wine’s move to Windsor offers several advantages for the company and its employees over the current location in a business park near Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport, Helfer said. The new site has easy access to local amenities such as the post office, bank branches, coffee shops and local eateries.

"The amenities of being able to walk across the street and go to Starbucks or grab a doughnut are certainly appealing," Helfer said. "We're hoping that by being near these conveniences, it might draw our hybrid workers back into the office a bit more."

DH Wine Compliance currently employs 32 people. The company has been able to leverage the shift to remote work, hiring talent from outside California Wine Country.

"The evolution of government agencies’ adopting online systems has allowed us to hire from outside the area," Helfer said. "We've been able to take advantage of the talent pool that's available, even if they're not located in wine country."

The wine industry as a whole has faced challenges in recent years, with a decline in alcohol consumption, particularly among younger generations. Helfer acknowledged the slower pace of new wine companies starting up, leading to fewer compliance applications. However, the increasing complexity of regulations has kept the company's workload steady.

"The volume of applications might be less, but the manpower required to file those items has increased," Helfer said. "We're managing with fewer clients, but the compliance process has become more challenging."

Despite the industry's ups and downs, Helfer remains optimistic about the future, hoping to see a resurgence of interest in the wine industry and the establishment of new wine companies in the years to come.

In the building sale, Dave Peterson and Kyle Nelson of Keegan & Coppin Co. Inc. represented the seller, Jeffrey S. and Karen A. Young Trust. Todd Schapmire of W Real Estate represented the buyer, DH Wine Holdings LLC.

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

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