Officials with Santa Rosa-based wine giant Jackson Family Wines said Friday the massive distribution center —the size of nine football fields — will begin distributing wines around the country by road and rail in February.

On Wednesday the city issued a temporary occupancy permit allowing the company to move into the 650,000-square-foot distribution center off Green Island Road while the developer completes landscaping of the property. The permit is good for three months.

Kendall-Jackson wines, as well as bottles bearing 40 other labels, will be shipped from the warehouse. The new distribution center, which will open after the busy crush and holiday season, will also store wines for clients of Biagi Brothers, the Napa-based trucking company that manages Kendall-Jackson’s trucking operations.

Biagi will occupy 175,000 square feet. The wine will move either by truck or by rail, thanks to a newly built rail spur that connects the warehouse to an existing Union Pacific Railroad line.

Jackson Family Wines decided to open the warehouse in order to consolidate distribution activities currently based in Napa, Santa Rosa, Windsor and elsewhere under one roof. Up to 5 million cases of wine — or 60 million bottles — will be shipped worldwide from the $29 million building.

The company chose American Canyon because of its proximity to wine country, Highway I-80, the major San Francisco Bay ports and airports and railroad lines.

“You have 29. You have 80, you’ve got rail access,” said Kathryn Zepaltas, director of distribution and logistics for Jackson Family Wines.

Scannell Properties of Indianapolis, Ind., which developed the warehouse, has applied to have the building certified under the green program called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — or LEED.

Kelly Keagy, a spokeswoman for Kendall-Jackson and Jackson Family Enterprises, and R. Paul Zenak, project manager for Sierra View, Scannell’s general contractor, emphasized the building’s sustainable features during a tour of the facility.

Zenak pointed to marble-like countertops made with recycled glass, motion-sensor lights in the warehouse, and the pond system that naturally cleans water runoff. The company recycled 85 percent of its construction materials and only used environmentally friendly carpets, paints and glues, Zenak said.

Rail service will help the company reduce its carbon footprint in part because each railcar can transport three times as much as a truckload, Zenak and Keagy noted.

The warehouse area will be kept between 54 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks in part to the building’s white roof areas, insulation in the walls and ceilings, and a 500-ton chiller system.

“We basically built a refrigerated ice chest here,” Zenak said.

The roof was designed to withstand the weight of a 1-megawatt solar panel array, but for “economic” reasons, according to Keagy, no solar panels will be installed yet.

The building will also house Kendall-Jackson’s wine library.

While nearly all of Napa County’s wineries are located north of American Canyon, American Canyon city officials have emphasized the city’s contribution to the local wine industry.

“The complex will play a huge, no pun intended, factor in supporting the wine industry both now and in the future,” American Canyon City Manager Rich Ramirez said in an e-mail. “So many people do not understand the fact that if Napa wine is made, shipped or stored, businesses in American Canyon play a big role.”

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