American Canyon, Calif. -- Industry veterans Tony Cartlidge and John Hawkins have announced plans to build a self-contained "artisanal village" of purpose-built, limited-production wineries for lease. Les Garagistes Napa will include 12 individual winery spaces, ranging in size from 3,500 to 6,500 square feet, located in four buildings surrounding a 16,000-square-foot courtyard. The "village" will be located on Jim Oswalt Way, off Hwy. 29 in American Canyon, and is scheduled to open by August, 2009.

Project co-founder and partner John Hawkins told Wines & Vines that one of the benefits of building the "village" in American Canyon is that the city allows wineries to open new tasting rooms. "If you don't already have one (in Napa) at this point, you're not going to get it," he said.

Hawkins said he sees the new development as an opportunity for passionate, quality-oriented winemakers to take their brands to the next level.

"We're offering winemakers and brand owners an alternative to 'alternating proprietorship' facilities, a chance to turn their virtual winery of today into a real bricks-and-mortar winery with a real Napa Valley address, to do their own work and to better control their own wine quality," he said. "The other alternative--building your own facility from the ground up--is financially unattainable for most."

The "village" will also offer winemakers the opportunity to join a community of like-minded boutique vintners. "We envision great collegiality, sharing and good times," said co-founder/partner Tony Cartlidge, founder of Cartlidge & Browne Winery.

The winery spaces will be designed specifically to accommodate high quality/limited production winemaking: Each will contain its own tasting room and office space, constructed to the specifications of each tenant, and each will be permitted for wine tasting and retail sales by the city of American Canyon. The site will be adjacent to a large temperature-controlled winery offering excess barrel and case goods storage, a fully equipped lab and a bottling facility.

Due to limited availability, interested wineries are invited to submit a dated "Letter of Intent" to express their interest and make a preliminary space reservation. Final acceptance is subject to review of a winery's financial strength, production quantity and wine quality, to ensure consistency with the artisanal theme of limited production wines made on the premises. Monthly rental fees are set at $2.50 per square foot.

"This is for people who have good strong brands and have their act together," Hawkins said. "We're going to be picky about who we let in."

Letters of Intent are available at lesgaragistesnapa.com, or by calling John Hawkins at (707) 968-9712.