Flow Kana Wants to Turn this Winery Into a Cannabis Education Center

The Bay Area-based Flow Kana brand prides itself on marketing craft quality products, made with sun-grown cannabis from the Emerald Triangle. The company is in the process of purchasing a sprawling 80-acre ranch in Redwood Valley that formerly served as a winery. Flow Kana plans on converting the winery into a cannabis operation including cultivation, processing, manufacturing, distribution and retail sales.

Flow Kana is in the pre-application stage with  the county’s planning department to purchase the 80-acre ranch on Bel Arbres Road. The Redwood Valley ranch and winery was owned and operated the Fetzer family since 1968, until operations were shifted to a winery in Hopland in 1999. Flow Kana representatives first pitched the idea to the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Committee last December. The project would be completed in phases extending over several years. The project would include a tasting room, among other perks.

The Fetzer property was listed at $3.5 million when Flow Kana set an offer. Clint Wilson is the real estate broker representing the property owners of the winery. “I think it’s inevitable the property could end up with someone in [the cannabis] industry,” Wilson told the Press-Democrat. Men and women in the area have been purchasing property without any knowledge of whether or not they’ll be approved for a permit to grow. The green rush was boosted by those who are seeking to take advantage of new pending regulations that will permit commercial enterprises. The legalization of recreational cannabis in California is expected to boost business further.

A number of neighbors are not thrilled about the idea of having a cannabis business close by. Amanda Reiman, a company spokeswoman, stated in a press release that the company’s goal is “to improve the value of the community through both financial investment and promotion of the small farmers who produce cannabis here.” Others, including the older winery operators in the area, believe the opposite will happen. They worry that a cannabis operation will invite crime into the area and drop property values. The cannabis industry is proving once again that growing cannabis is a more lucrative and realistic option than growing grapes.