About Us – Purple Brands

Everyday Exceptional

We build exceptional wine and spirits brands that delight our consumers and support the goals of our business partners.

Founded by Derek Benham in 2001, the company is a brand-led business, with an acclaimed portfolio of wines brands along with several burgeoning spirits brands. Purple Brands is based in Petaluma California.

Derek Benham – Chairman & Owner

Derek grew up in California’s San Joaquin Valley where his family tended pistachio groves and vineyards. In the late 1970s, Derek headed west to UC Berkeley where he graduated with degrees in Philosophy and English Literature in 1982. During this time, the business climate in the Bay Area was challenging. Interest rates soared and the job market was grim as Derek entered the wine industry, taking a sales position with a Lodi based winery.

Times were tough and Derek was trying his best to sell wine with little training and no marketing support. Armed with a case of wine, sell sheets, and a phone book, Derek hit the streets and found a niche for his wines in local grocery stores, restaurants, and independent wine shops. Eventually he assumed the role of General Manager, and after six years on the job managed to turn the winery around with sales exceeding several hundred thousand cases. The winery was sold to the former owners of La Crema Winery and Derek moved onto his next wine project.

In 1990, Derek founded the Codera Wine Group and created the Blackstone Merlot brand. Two years later, he purchased the old Hallberg apple cannery in Graton, California which had been converted to a winery in 1979. After seven successful years, Blackstone was sold in 2001, Codera was dissolved, and Derek started Purple Wine Company.

Derek’s intuitive understanding of consumer expectations fueled his interest in several exciting projects. To help cast off the misconception that wine was only to be enjoyed by the privileged, he launched Avalon, the go-to-brand for Cabernet Sauvignon. He also created Mark West and built it into a greatly successful brand, which earned the Impact Hot Brand Award from M. Shanken Communications twice. Derek later sold Mark West to Constellation Brands.

In 2013, Derek introduced Raeburn, a Russian River Chardonnay retailing for just under $20. For five consecutive years Raeburn has been recognized as an Impact Hot Prospect brand, and its portfolio boasts a top 10 Chardonnay, top 10 Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon that is growing at triple digits. Rounding out the wine offerings is a beautiful Napa brand called Scattered Peaks.

A year after establishing Raeburn, Benham broke ground on a new distillery in Graton, California in 2014. He recognized that the region’s temperate climate and humidity would allow for a slow, even extraction of flavor during the whiskey aging process. In 2015 he started building for the future. The distillery laid down its first grain to glass in barrels and he went across the national hand selecting older barrels from established distilleries. In less than a decade the distillery had amassed the largest inventory of aging whiskey in the state. Redwood Empire Whiskey launched in 2019 and quickly amassed a cult-like following with whiskey connoisseurs everywhere. Redwood Empire isn’t only leading the California whiskey movement, it is established as a serious American Whiskey player.

When not creating new wine and spirit offerings, Derek is on the slopes skiing or paddling out to catch his next wave. He enjoys traveling with his wife and three children and is especially passionate about Barcelona, Spain. The Benham’s often journey there to soak up the Catalan culture. Derek adores “gin tonics”, Catalonia’s famous cocktail, and loves to share his passion with friends and family.