Comments on: New Vine Logistics Aftermath: Questions

By: Inertia Buys New Vine: Revelations

Inertia Buys New Vine: Revelations — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:30:42 +0000

[...] my previous post on New Vine (formerly New Vine Logistics), I listed 4 questions I had about the abrupt [...]

By: STILL UNDEAD: Employees Fume, Customers Fret As New Vine Bazaar Grinds On | Wine Industry Insight

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:40:10 +0000

[...] comments were posted at PinotBlogger.Com. Posted by lperdue on Jun 3rd, 2009 and filed under Featured Articles. You can follow any [...]

By: New Vine Logistics: Accounts & Alternatives : Wine Blog Reviews

New Vine Logistics: Accounts & Alternatives : Wine Blog Reviews — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:22:20 +0000

[...] New Vine Logistic Aftermath: QuestionsPinotBlogger [...]

By: With-held

With-held — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:31:57 +0000

No final checks to employees do not rank behind other debts in bankruptcy in the state of California! The state labor law clearly states that paying employees comes before any other debt. The employees have worked and earned their check, other debts come after that! Anyone who says otherwise, is sadly mistaken. How would you like it if your employer refused to pay you, but was paying for PR firms to release statements to the press or other debts? The employees are not to blame. Without them, you will not get the wine that seems to mean so much to you.

By: John Kelly

John Kelly — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:56:58 +0000

Thanks to Charlotte Milan and “with-held” for weighing in here. Has anyone asked the question: “Has there been or will there be a bankruptcy filing?” Harsh for NV’s employees but don’t final paychecks rank behind other debts in bankruptcy?

By: With-held

With-held — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:16:42 +0000

Someone needs to help the employees get paid. Over 75 employees were let go on Friday without their final checks or accrued vacation. They are being told the bank has taken over, and refuses to let the company pay them but the bank has not taken over the company. The employees that are left there, are being told day by day if they will be paid, yet they haven’t seen a guarantee yet. When they ask about being paid for last week, they are told it is still being negociated. This has nothing to do with the employees, but bad management. It is not fair that the employees are being punished for lack of leadership.

By: with held

with held — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:56:34 +0000

1. wineries still own the wine and are being given their wine back. it is not locked down.
2. Investors pulled out after analysis completed by interim exec group.
3. katie tried securing more funding until the last possible minute but was unable to acquire it.
4. stay tuned, may be a new player coming into the fold.

By: Charlotte Milan

Charlotte Milan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:38:46 +0000

While this does not answer all of your questions, following is a statement from Kathleen Hoertkorn and Chairman of the Board Homer Dunn:

New Vine Logistics is currently working with customers to transfer all services to another means of legal direct shipping, and in the meantime, is finalizing all work, including compiling of reports, reconciling inventory and invoices, and performing all of the necessary business operations for the months of May and June.

In response to comments that the company knew it was in financial trouble, Hoertkorn affirmed that they “truly believed that they would have been funded and were not expecting to have to cease operations.”

“New Vine has always been committed to quality, legal service, and built the only service that integrated compliance and fulfillment. It does cost more to be compliant and follow all the laws established by the various states. The company also pioneered many solutions such as temperature controlled packaging. The whole objective was to allow wineries to concentrate on sales and marketing, versus the back end processes from inventory to fulfillment to special services to compliance.”

New Vine was founded in May 2001 by wine industry, technology, and transportation veterans to solve the complex business problems associated with the interstate sale and distribution of wine. The company has developed proprietary fulfillment systems that enable fully compliant consumer-direct shipping in up to 44 states.

Hoertkorn stated that she will keep winery customers, employees and shareholders advised of next steps. “We deeply apologize for the situation, and we pledge to work with our customers to make as smooth and expedient shipping transition as possible.”

By: Jared

Jared — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:48:52 +0000

So many people saw this coming, it should not have surprised anyone. As for Amazon picking over the scraps, quite possible, so we’ll see.

More interestingly, how does this impact 3rd party companies like Andrea Immer and Bottlenotes who have built their entire companies on NV’s supply.

By: Lewis Perdue

Lewis Perdue — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:26:49 +0000

It appears to me that the plug was pulled by the equity investors and not Silicon Valley Bank.

Rob McMillan, the head of the Wine section at SVB told me last night that they did not learn of the shutdown until after it had happened. His info and more stuff are in my story at: wineindustryinsight.com