They will start pouring concrete this morning and in March 2013, Fort Worth will get its own climate-controlled wine-storage facility at 2915 Riverglen Drive., just south of the Hulen bridge, behind what will be a new Spec's liquor store.
For $317 a year, a wine drinker can keep 12 cases of his or her most cherished vintages in temperature-controlled conditions. And there's enough room to increase the locker size.In fact, some clients of Classic Wine Storage & Services in Southlake and Dallas can spend as much as $10,000 to keep their fermented grape juice in tip-top shape at 54 to 55 degrees and 65 to 70 percent humidity.Native Iowan Mark Nelson got the idea when his wife's career brought the family to the area and he realized there wasn't such a facility in Tarrant County. Investing upwards of $500,000 in 2006, Nelson's venture turned profitable in its third year, helped by double-digit annual growth. He expanded to Dallas last year, and picked up a partner, Terry Perkins."We have more than 300 clients now in Dallas and Southlake," Nelson told us.The Southlake and Dallas locations, 7,700 and 10,300 square feet respectively, were repurposed buildings. But the 16,000-square-foot, two-story structure with an elevator in Fort Worth is being constructed to Classic Wine's specs, including six-inch foam insulation, backup generator and redundant cooling system, he told us.Unlike some regional rivals, Nelson says, Classic is not just for storage. It offers a number of services, including receiving wine orders on behalf of customers, taking inventory and valuing collections for insurance purposes, or moving and temporarily storing wines from flooded property.Then there's the fulfillment niche, since it's also a bonded warehouse. The firm's clients include distributors that may have no brick-and-mortar presence in the local market. For them, Classic will store the wine, pull inventory when orders come in, and finally deliver the cases to restaurants and retailers.Each location has an event room, where clients can mingle and share a wine. And it's available for birthdays and other occasions, he added. "We are also getting inquiries from wine educators."ZS Pharma raises cashFort Worth-based ZS Pharma, which is developing a drug for patients with kidney and liver disease, says it scored its biggest capital-raising effort to date when it sold $46 million in shares to several new investors.ZS moved to Fort Worth from Indiana in 2010 when it landed a $2 million investment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. It is a client of Tech Fort Worth, a business incubator, and conducts some of its work at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.The company is developing a compound it calls ZS-9, a zirconium silicate that is designed to remove toxins from patients with compromised liver and kidney function.The latest money will help finance phase three clinical trials, which could ultimately lead to approval by the Food & Drug Administration, said CEO Al Guillem. While ZS will continue using the UNT Health Science Center facilities for the time being, the company is also making enough progress that it's starting to look for its own quarters."We are looking at space to bring manufacturing to the area," Guillem said, and ZS has made offers to several prospective employees.The latest investments marked the company's third round of financing, which saw shares purchased by existing investors as well as new ones, such as St. Louis-based RiverVest Venture Partners.Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727sabaker@star-telegram.comJim Fuquay, 817-390-7552jfuquay@star-telegram.comBarry Shlachter, 817-390-7718barry@star-telegram.comHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
