California Wine Giant Vintage Wine Estates to Cut 377 Jobs Amid Bankruptcy Proceedings
Vintage Wine Estates, a major California wine company that filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, intends to “mass layoff” all of its employees, according to federal records.
Vintage, America’s 15th-largest wine producer, would cut 377 jobs across 10 locations in four Bay Area counties, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with California regulators.
Vintage Wine Estates did not immediately respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment.
The notification, which the firm is required to publish under federal law, claimed that if its bankruptcy case is granted, and a buyer or buyers are permitted to purchase the company’s assets, Vintage will “cease operations and all Vintage Wine Estates employees, at all locations, would be terminated.”
“While we are hopeful that a buyer would hire some of the company’s workforce,” the email said, “we cannot be certain that will occur.”
The layoffs are expected to begin as early as September 27 or within 14 days, according to the notice.
In Napa County, 27 staff at Calistoga’s Clos Pegase and Girard vineyards would be laid off. In Sonoma County, 86 employees would be laid off at B.R. Cohn Winery, Kunde Family Winery, Viansa Winery, and Sonoma Coast Vineyards. Additional layoffs would take place at Laetitia Vineyard & Winery in Arroyo Grande (San Luis Obispo County), Ace Cider in Sebastopol, Vintage’s Santa Rosa headquarters, and a manufacturing plant in Hopland (Mendocino County).
Vintage has already reduced its personnel by 7% in 2023, with at least another 15% expected this year. This enormous drop comes after the corporation stated that commercial activities will “continue largely business-as-usual,” notwithstanding the bankruptcy case.
In addition to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Santa Rosa firm, which went public in 2020, revealed plans to voluntarily delist from the stock exchange. Vintage’s bid price went below $1 last year after starting at $9.68, and it has remained around 20 cents since June 1.
Last December, the company reported that it had over $300 million in outstanding debt. It also just sold one of its wineries, Cosentino in St. Helena, to assist pay off its commitments.