(NBBJ) - Pat Roney is president of Vintage Wine Estates, a Santa Rosa-based family-owned wine company.

Started in 2009, its portfolio has more than 700 stock-keeping units, or SKUs. That includes local brands and estates such as Clos Pegase, Girard, Cosentino, Viansa, Sonoma Coast Vineyards, Ray’s Station and 2015 acquisitions Swanson Vineyards in Rutherford and B.R. Cohn in Sonoma Valley. Also in the blend are six other luxury brands, eight “lifestyle” brands and more than 50 exclusive labels brands. The company employs more than 380. It also operates a 100,000-square-foot warehouse, offers in-house label printing and wine etching, custom-crush capabilities, and custom labels for retailers.

He is set to be on the mergers-and-acquisitions panel at the Business Journal’s Wine Industry Conference on April 28.

What’s the growth potential for North Coast wine?

PAT RONEY: There is a tremendous amount of growth potential in the North Coast. As the whole wine business’ price points continue to go up or the consumer is shifting away from the $10-and-below category, that continues to bode well for continued growth in the North Coast and largely in the $15-plus category. That’s where I see most of the growth happening, especially with the continued emphasis on baby boomers as well as millennials.

What’s helping or hindering that growth?

RONEY: [Millennials are] going to continue to experiment, so you can do interesting things, whether through innovation or flavor differentiation or styles then packaging.

Our biggest impediment might be the lack of grapes. The cycle where we’ve been is a little short on wine product. But it is a little hard to predict that.

We’re doing increased wine supply and grape supply contracts in areas where it makes sense for us. We are involved in the acquisition of additional vineyards.

There will be a need for [more processing capacity] in the industry in general. For our processing capacity, I think we’re fairly comfortable with where we are.