How Covid Killed a Sonoma Distillery

Opening Day for Elk Ridge Distillery, 464 Kenwood Court, Santa Rosa, Calif., was supposed to be March 15, 2020. A 100-person party was planned to launch the distillery.

But on March 14, California shut down for COVID-19. The distillery never fully recovered, Gail Coppinger, co-founder, told The Press Democrat. “We never got to be in business, so we could never get any help from the government because we weren’t in business yet as of January of that year, 2020,” she added.

The distillery limped along, winning gold and silver medals at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America Access Live Competition in 2024 for its White Elk Vodka and barrel-aged gin, respectively.

“When COVID broke and people were opening back up again, we did OK for about a year, but we had dug this huge hole, and we could never get ourselves out of it,” Coppinger said. “At one point, we just looked at each other and said, ‘When you’re in a hole, stop digging.’ And that’s what we did.”

One of the problems that did Elk Fence in was distribution. Nobody knew them, and liquor stores weren't buying drinks they didn't know. Coppinger and her partner, Scott Woodson, spent all their capital trying to keep the business alive while Covid raged.

The distillery is pretty much intact, and the property is up for lease.For more info: Brian Tarkenton of CIRE Property Management at brian@northprop.com.