The Stockton Record published this article on March 14, 1998

Run-down Lockeford winery sold

Buyers plan cleanup

by Richard Hanner
Lodi Bureau Chief

LOCKEFORD - A once-proud winery that decayed into an eye-sore and firetrap has been sold to investors for $215,000.

The buyers, Bruce Viel of Lockeford and Don Litchfield of Copperopolis, plan to continue a cleanup of the former Lockeford Winery, which sprawls over 48 acres on Locke Road.

After that, they may plant grapes and refurbish some of the buildings for use as storage space.

"We are not too sure right now which way we will go with the property," Viel said. "But we are pleased to have secured a large parcel at what we believe is a very, very good price.

He said Litchfield has experience in environmental cleanup projects. The property includes a small number of underground tanks that must be removed.

"We plan to really clean this property up, do a first-rate job," he said.

The county sold the property Wednesday during a public auction in Stockton. County officials will apply the $215,000 sales price to the more that $1.5 million in back taxes owed for the property.

Originally the Lockeford Cooperative Winery, the operation produced sherry marketed under the L.W. label and brandy sold under the Lodi brand label.

It supplied a tasting room open to the public on Highway 88 in Lockeford.

Later, the site was sold and used for a gasohol plant, but that venture failed.

The owners of the gasohol operation abandoned the site, reportedly left the country, and did not pay the property tax bills.

In recent years, vandals and transients moved into the site, reducing the compound of cavernous concrete buildings to rubble.

Numerous fires have been set on the property, which is adjacent to businesses producing wood products. Leaders of the Mokelumne Fire Department warned the site was a dangerous nuisance that imperiled both life and property.

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