Many beverage brands are labors of love.
While it seems like it's easy to slap a celebrity name on a liquor brand and have instant success, that's only a small part of the industry. Yes, if you have Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or Sammy Hagar, you can skip the line and jump to success, but most brands don't have that.
Related: Another popular coffee and cafe brand files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Most brewers, wineries and coffee roasteries rely on the passion their owners have for the business. That's an incredible challenge when you're facing the giants that dominate those businesses.
Beer, wine and coffee brands have been especially vulnerable to rising labor rates and increased supply-chain costs. Those costs have devastated the craft-brewery business, where both national names and regional players have ended up in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and in many cases not emerging from it.
Casualties have included huge names, including San Francisco's Anchor Brewing, the nation's first craft brewer. (As of the end of May Anchor has a new owner, Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of Chobani yogurt.)
A number of other regional favorites of varying sizes, including Chicago’s Metropolitan Brewing, New Jersey’s Flying Fish, Denver’s Joyride Brewing, Tampa’s Zydeco Brew Werks and Cleveland’s Terrestrial Brewing, have also filed for bankruptcy.
The wine business has not been spared from the carnage: Ohio's Meier's Winery, a brand that started in 1890, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late July.
That historic company has now been followed into bankruptcy by a winery located in a state that's not one of the first ones you think of when it comes to wine.
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Arizona winery makes affordable wine
While Arizona isn't California, the first state most people think of when it comes to wine, it does have the perfect climate for growing wine-quality grapes. That's a big part of the back story for the state's Two Vines vineyard.
"Great Wines Born from the Vineyards. Two Vines winemaking starts in the vineyard – we have the perfect climate for growing grapes and our trellising methods help to create wines that are enjoyable and approachable," one of the brand's distributors says on its website.
Listed on the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates page, the description explains how the brand was named.
"The Two Vines designation speaks to our method of vine trellising, which positions grape clusters for optimum sun exposure, resulting in approachable wines with richer flavor, brighter color, and an expression of fruit that’s perfect for everyday enjoyment," the winery says.
"Two Vines wines consistently earn 'Best Value' and 'Best Buy' designations from leading wine publications — evidence of our commitment to producing quality wines that offer outstanding value."
The Two Vines website redirects to a service to help customers find the brand at retailers and restaurants in their markets.
Two Vines files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Two Vines Vineyards, as the company is formally known, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Aug. 24 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona.
In the filing, the company reported that it has between 1 and 49 creditors. Two Vines Vineyards reported both debts and assets between $500,000 and $1 million.
Among its listed debts, Two Vines owes the Arizona Department of Revenue $90,000. Aside from an excise tax debt of $15,000 all the company's other listed debts are below $10,000.
More bankruptcy:
- Struggling Home Depot rival files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Popular Italian restaurant chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Another distressed trucking company files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
No financing or funding plan was filed as part of the initial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Two Vines Vineyards does not list any contact information on its website and it does not appear to have a social-media presence. The company did not release a statement about its Chapter 11 filing or its plans moving forward.
The company's wines are still being sold on multiple wine websites.
