Pat Roney, former CEO of Vintage Wine Estates, has acquired the Sojourn Cellars and Windsor Vineyards, two brands that had been caught up in big bankruptcy cases. His next act is focusing on revitalization amid the North Coast wine industry’s challenges.
Pat Roney, a veteran of the North Coast wine industry, is charting a new course in the business after the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Vintage Wine Estates, the company he founded nearly two decades ago to build a portfolio of wine brands.
Just a year after the high-profile reorganization, Roney has bought one of the brands sold from the Vintage portfolio and one related to another big bankruptcy case.
The most recent deal was picking up the Sojourn Cellars brand, a high-end producer of pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sabernet Sauvignon started in 2001 by Craig Haserot and Erich Bradley.
Sojourn was purchased in 2020 by Harrow Cellars LLC part of the Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group venture by Ken and Stacy Mattson. It had been set to move into a former Ravenswood winery on the edge of Sonoma, but that project never materialized. Harrow wasn’t among the dozens of entities that went into bankruptcy last fall as the finances for the Levefer Mattson real estate portfolio collapsed, but the wine brand got wrapped up in it and was sold Aug. 1.
“It was one of their only businesses that wasn’t actually bankrupt, but it was collateral, so they had to sell it,” Roney said Thursday.
Sojourn, which produces 10,000 cases annually and has garnered high scores from reviewers, continues to be made at Vinify Wine Services in Santa Rosa as it has since its inception. Bradley is full-time winemaker, and Haserot has returned to help steer the project financially during the transition.
“The Sojourn Cellars business is actually very, very healthy, more healthy than many of the other brands that I’ve looked at in the past year or so,” Roney said. “We’re going to invest a little bit of money in the tasting room to update it a little bit… and invest a little bit more in [e-commerce].”
The other brand Roney’s new ventures have acquired is Windsor Vineyards, originally started by professional dancer turned vintner Rodney Strong in 1959. While Strong’s namesake winery has remained with the Klein family since 1989, the direct-to-consumer -focused Windsor Vineyards went through various ownerships before Roney and the late Oakville Grocery entrepreneur Leslie Rudd teamed up to acquire the venture in 2007 and fold it into what would become Vintage Wine Estates.
Vintage grew through acquisition to include dozens of brands by the time of its going public in 2021 then restructuring in 2023 and finally seeking bankruptcy protection in July of last year. Full Glass Wine Co. purchased the Cameron Hughes and Windsor Vineyards brands, and the Vinesse club from the Vintage estate that October for $3.2 million.
A month later, Full Glass sold Windsor Vineayrds to Roney’s newly formed Windsor Vineyards LLC for an undisclosed sum.
“Windsor Vineyards is a strong business with a loyal customer base. However, its focus on personalized wine labels for corporate and personal gifting from a single winery did not align with Full Glass Wine Co.’s core vision,“ Full Glass said in a statement. ”Full Glass Wine Co. is committed to discovering and curating a portfolio of distinctive, scalable brands, with an emphasis on convenience and exceptional value for customers.“
Windsor Vineyards, back to its corporate gift-giving focus and making 10,000–12,000 cases annually, is now being made by Shannon Family of Companies in Lake County. Windsor Vineyards LLC is owned by Roney’s family, including his son Sean, who runs the venture. Both companies are run by a team of 20 based in Sonoma.
“We obviously had a deep understanding of the brand and the opportunities,” Roney said Thursday.
Roney’s comeback follows a tumultuous period. During the bankruptcy court sale of Vintage assets, he sought to acquire brands, teaming up with Sonoma Brands financier and former vintner Jon Sebastiani through a venture called Phenix LLC.
“Jon’s not part of this now. I have one other investor (in Sojourn), Mack Schwing,” Roney said.
Schwing was associated with the startup of the WISE Academy and at one time led Sonoma State University’s wine program.
Despite the challenges, Roney remains optimistic.
“There’s a real squeeze on the high end of the market. I think we’re still probably in this slow period, or decline period, for another year, year and a half,” Roney said. “But there are still plenty of people out there that are loyal and are buying wine. You just have to work a little bit harder to get to them.”
Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256.
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