After nine months of legal jousting and pandemic delays, the Vintage Wine Estates (VWE) smoke-taint lawsuit against its insurance company is scheduled for a jury trial sometime in early 2022 in San Francisco U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Judge Maxine M. Chesney has set jury selection for Feb. 14, 2022, with […]

SPECIAL PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER FEATURE: Full text (46 pages) of U.S. Department of Justice complaint/affidavit used to obtain search warrant. Click here. A Woodbridge-area vineyard was used as a training camp for right-wing counter protestors to prepare to engage in civil disorders, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of […]

Venture-funded aerial imagery firm TerrAvion shut down operations Friday, Sept. 4 just days after its August 31 after Chapter 11 filing. Court documents indicate up to $50 million in liabilities, half of that unsecured. The Hayward-based company, founded by an experienced military drone expert, sought to provide aerial imagery to farmers designed help growers detect […]

Recommended background links: Recent: To-Kalon lawsuit dismissed, then reinstated and combined as both parties refile, but “iconic” still all about myth, Benjamins, and grapes at $38K/Ton Recent: Robert Mondavi Winery Sits in the To Kalon Vineyard. Its Owner Says There’s No Such Place Historical: The True Story of To-Kalon Vineyard, by Matt Stamp, MS After […]

Two Harvard-controlled LLCs have deeded over 7,104.74 acres of land in northern San Luis Obispo County for an estimated $120.14 million (based upon $132,159 paid in county real estate transfer taxes.) It is unclear whether this was an actual sale or a method for the Harvard LLCs to pull cash out of the assets. Note: […]

A Livermore public warehouse/wine and beer wholesaler has sued its Lodi warehouse company in Federal District Court for the Northern District of California charging racketeering, state-of-emergency price gouging, fraud and other charges. The plaintiff, Ruby Grapes LLC alleges in its complaint (pdf premium) that Intercoastal Wine Company of Lodi increased storage rates by 1,250% on […]

This article is about a request for a retraction in a situation where there is no verification for — or against — the reason behind the request. However, the search for the verification, turned out to be an interesting journey and an amusing article for people interested in all things Gallo. On Jul 21, 2020, […]

More than 87,000 California businesses received funds from the from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Of those, 244 California Wineries and Vineyards received funds totaling between $145 and $328 million according to online documents from the program. Precise numbers were not provided, only the range of funds. In addition, there have been numerous reports of […]

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury released Monday the names of all organizations that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans of $150,000 or more. The SBA and Treasury also published data for recipients of PPP loans less than $150,000 but did not reveal the names and addresses of those businesses. The data […]