(NBBJ) - 2015 was an particularly active year for sales of North Coast wineries and vineyards, amid the trend over the past few years for producers to lock in sources of choice grapes and production capacity.

E&J Gallo Winery has been an active buyer of North Coast wineries and vineyards this year. The Modesto-based world’s largest wine company in December said it is buying The Ranch Winery large custom-crush facility near St. Helena by year-end to boost Napa Valley high-end wine supply. Gallo bought the Asti winery and Souverain brand from Treasury Wine Estates in July, 258 acres of Pope Valley vineyards from Flora Spring in May, and J Vineyards & Winery near Healdsburg in March.

Jackson Family Wines in January purchased Siduri Wines, known for its single-vineyard pinot noir wines made from top California and Oregon grapes and produced in an unassuming northwest Santa Rosa industrial complex. The deal includes the Siduri brand and Rhone variety-focused second label Novy Family Wines along with inventory and related assets such as the winemaking facility at 981-E Airway Ct.

Cuvaison Estate Wines in April announced the consolidating its winemaking to its Los Carneros facility with the sale of the brand’s 45-year production and hospitality home in Calistoga to a St. Helena-based developer and manager of luxury lodging and dwellings. Criswell-Radovan, LLC, purchased the property only from the Schmidheiny family, which acquired Cuvaison in 1979. The new owners plan to rename the property Fairwinds Estate Winery but will continue to provide custom-crush services to clients and keep the production management and team.

An affiliate of Livermore Valley’s AuburnJames Winery in June purchased the 100,000-case-a-year former Hill Wine Company winery at 1001 Silverado Trail for $11.2 million.

Joseph Wagner, son of Napa Valley vintner Chuck Wagner of Caymus Vineyards fame, built his Meiomi brand into a 600,000-case-a-year ultrapremium wine over the past eight years. In August, Rutherford-based Copper Cane LLC sold Meiomi to Victor, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands, one of the world’s largest alcoholic beverage companies, for $315 million.

The Wine Group, the second-largest U.S. wine company, acquired Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Winery in Sonoma Valley in June from the Benziger family.

Privately held French fashion powerhouse Chanel Inc. entered the U.S. wine business with the purchase of Rutherford’s St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery this fall for an undisclosed sum from the Skalli family