With the expected continuing market correction of the alcohol beverage industry to consumer demand, wine producers are preparing for potential bankruptcies or shuttering of trade purchaser businesses at the distribution and retail levels. This article explores how alcohol beverage producers should prepare for trade disruption caused by bankruptcies. Bankruptcy is governed by federal law, and bankruptcy cases are exclusively handled in federal bankruptcy courts. When a business files for bankruptcy, its creditors (including suppliers with unpaid invoices) face significant uncertainty as to their ability to get paid. Alcohol beverage producers should be aware of three key issues that will impact their contracting relationships and products in the market in the context of the bankruptcy of a distributor or retailer: (1) the effect of an automatic stay; (2) the potential for recouping certain inventory; and (3) the potential of having certain payments received from the entity filing for b

Afternoon Brief: Sugarloaf Custom Winery Seeks Bankruptcy Protection as $13 Million Loan in Default

Sugarloaf Wine Co. southeast of Santa Rosa filed for Chapter 11 reorganization as loan on winery goes into foreclosure. Founder says hundreds of thousands of dollars from the winery and a separate vineyard operation went to fund a fintech startup...

Afternoon Brief: Court OKs $140 Million in Vintage Wine Estates Assets Sales

Nearly two dozen wineries, brands and other assets of the defunct Santa Rosa-anchored Vintage Wine Estates portfolio got the green light to change hands in a Delaware bankruptcy court Tuesday...

Afternoon Brief, August 30th

Kelham Vineyards Is in Bankruptcy Court as Family Feud Continues: A bitter family dispute over a Napa Valley winery has landed in bankruptcy court and a trial scheduled for October...

Afternoon Brief, March 17th

SVB Financial Files for Ch. 11 Bankruptcy Protection, Says It Has $2.2 Billion in Liquidity: One week after trading was halted for SVB Financial and regulators took control of the holding company for Silicon Valley Bank and other subsidiaries, SVB Financial has taken the next inevitable step: Today it announced that it has formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York...

Afternoon Brief, December 27th

It Was the Wine World's Buzziest Online Club. Can It Recover from Bankruptcy?: It was a fast, improbable success story: A buzzy new wine-tech business co-founded by a burgeoning celebrity sommelier offered access to rare, hard-to-find bottles at fair prices. It was one of the two best wine clubs you could join, according to Wirecutter...