Stewart and Lynda Resnick want to turn their water business into wine.

Fiji Water, an upscale bottled water company the billionaire couple owns in Los Angeles, purchased Landmark Vineyards in the Sonoma Valley north of San Francisco on Aug. 3. Last December, the company purchased the much larger Justin Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles.

The strategy behind the acquisitions is to ask the company’s water clients to become wine buyers, too, especially if they are looking for midpriced bottles at about $25.

“In that range, we can catch consumers who are trading down from more expensive wines because of the recession, and those who are trading up to get more value for their money,” said David Bowman, Fiji’s vice president of marketing.

In addition to Fiji Water, the Resnicks own pomegranate juice brand Pom Wonderful and Paramount Farms, a large grower of pistachios and almonds. The couple ranks 25th on the Business Journal’s list of Wealthiest Angelenos with an estimated worth of $1.88 billion.

However, Bowman believes he can grow sales at the vineyards by leveraging Fiji Water’s sales force. The 125-person staff has a large database of customers that are good prospects to buy wine.

“Our organization has sold water to high-end restaurateurs and retailers for years,” he explained. “Now they’ll have a new product to talk about.”

The sales people may face some hurdles. Karen Childers, a wine marketing consultant in Napa, said that vintners don’t sell wine the way the Resnicks sell water.

“People want to know the story of the people who make the wine because consumers believe California vintners are living the dream life,” Childers said. “I can’t imagine that the consumers of the Resnicks’ other brands have that same need.”

Bowman expects the two vineyards will ship about 50,000 cases of wine this year. With the Fiji sales team, that number will go up, but he doesn’t have a specific goal.