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Gallo Gets “Good Deal” On Illegal Russian River Water Diversion
April 23, 2009
For more than three years, the E. & J. Gallo Winery has illegally diverted Russian River water and improperly stored it, according to an Administrative Civil Liability Complaint filed by the California Water Resources Control Board (WRCB) on April 20. The WRCB complaint said Gallo’s actions deprived downstream water users, gained it an improper financial […]
Is Cecchetti Merger Racke’s U.S. End Game?
January 21, 2009
Racke USA, which has struggled for more than two decades to find significant traction in the U.S. market, has merged with the brains and brawn behind the hot-selling Pepperwood Grove brand, Roy Cecchetti. Once best known as the owner of Sonoma’s venerable Buena Vista Winery, Racke has now merged its remaining U.S. operations into a […]
Copia To Liquidate, Then Transform Itself Into For-Profit Enterprise
January 9, 2009
Copia, Robert Mondavi’s visionary wine and food center, received permission Friday morning for a procedure that calls for it to liquidate all of its assets, pay employees’ priority wage claims then create a plan to transform the real estate and remaining assets into a for-profit enterprise. Copia has liabilities of at least $78 million, including […]
Carneros Getting Million-Gallon Custom Crush Facility
January 8, 2009
The Central Valley Business Times reported today that The Vintners Group, founded by Dennis Rippey, has broken ground on a million-gallon custom-crush facility in the Carneros Region. Carneros Vintners, Inc., a division of The Vintners Group of Lodi, says it should be ready for the 2009 harvest. The Carneros facility includes future plans to expand […]
Copia Status Hearing, Creditors Meeting Set
December 23, 2008
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alan Jaroslovsky has scheduled a status conference in the Copia Chapter 11 proceedings for January 9, 2009. The hearing will be held at the court at 99 South E St. in Santa Rosa. In addition, Judge Jaroslovsky extended Copia’s deadline for filing its financial statements until January 5. The original deadline had […]
Sebastiani/Foley Acquisition Update
December 22, 2008
The CIA has nothing on Sebastiani when it comes to keeping confidential information secret. However, Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery did offer a few more details in a news release today which WII’s Saturday article did not contain. According to the release, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as exclusive financial adviser and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter […]
Real Estate And Credit Crisis Catches Up With Wine Industry – Part 1
Vineyard and winery sales data show that the real estate meltdown began to hit the wine industry around the first of August this year. In addition, five real estate brokers and finance experts confirmed that the downturn has made deals harder to close, and is likely to reach crisis proportions for the most highly leveraged […]
Sebastiani Winery Sold to Foley Wine Group
December 20, 2008
Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery has been sold to Santa Barbara County-based Foley Wine Group. The pending sale was announced Friday night by Richard A. Cuneo, chairman of the Sebastiani board. The transaction comes amid the beginnings of a sag in real-estate prices as effects of the global recession begin to depress winery and vineyard values. […]
TTB’s Appellation System Dysfunctional, Outdated – Designed for Insiders
December 16, 2008
Note: Links to a full-scale and detailed map and a .pdf of the entire Gallo proposal are below. “I note, and object to the fact that the application of the petitioner [E&J Gallo] is not publicly available for review and comment. Although certain information is quoted in the [TTB] Notice [#90 to expand the Russian […]