The title of this post is taken from a comment that my friend Luke left me on Facebook yesterday in reference to the Gruet/Cap*Rock debacle. The comment does a good job of giving voice to the disappointment that many are feeling with the outcome of the Gruet purchase of the Lubbock winery.
In conversations with Texas wine lovers over the last couple of weeks, and actually with wine lovers from outside of Texas as well, I was finding a lot of excitement about the prospect of "Texas Champagne" coming from the Lubbock area. There really seemed to be very little negative that could be said about the deal. Certainly, the thought of a Texas winery with national distribution and the backing of a respected company like Gruet was enough to make many salivate over the potential impact on the state's wine industry.The only problem was that while we were salivating, issues were mounting with the sale, and with Laurent Gruet personally.
The events of the last few days have painted a clear picture of the financial issues that sunk the deal, and other reports, that have not currently been linked to the disruption of the deal, have also taken the shine off of a story that seemed so promising a short time ago. Word started circulating last week from television stations in Albuquerque that Laurent Gruet has been arrested for DWI five times, and convicted twice. A third conviction certainly could have created problems with Gruet himself acquiring the Texas liquor license needed to operate the winery, although there could have still been avenues that would have allowed Gruet Winery to operate Cap*Rock and get the needed licensing. Regardless of whether or not these issues had any effect on the sale, they certainly are unfortunate developments in a story rife with disappointment.
I have heard some in the Texas wine industry joke that Cap*Rock is under a curse, a belief that seems less laughable all the time. There is definitely still an opportunity for this story to have a happy ending, but for now the thoughts of what might have been have taken the sparkle off of what so recently seemed like cause for celebration. Hopefully the outcome of the auction that ends Tuesday, August 3rd will salvage the situation, but for now I guess the moral of this story is, "Don't pop the cork on your champagne until the money is in the bank."
Update: Russ Kane has some great comments on this post, and on his post on his VintageTexas blog about this whole mess. Check them out.
My question now would be what would the effect have been on Cap*Rock had Gruet not won the bid, and is there a way for them to recover? It seems unfair to them that they were basically in stasis while their potential buyer sorts out a whole lot of dirty laundry. Could the next bidder step in and continue the process?
Also, was Gruet not vetted before the bid was approved? Could I have wandered in and bid 10 million for the winery?
I think that there is a way for them to recover. There were a number of other quality bidders involved in the auction, so I think that the real issue is just that the Gruet purchase seemed like such a great fit for the Texas wine industry, for Cap*Rock, and for the city of Lubbock. I think that a speedy resolution of the sale could still leave the new buyer enough time to prepare for the current harvest, but this certainly doesn’t help make the next owner’s life any easier.
Since this was a public auction, there was very little vetting that was done beforehand. The bidders did have to put down a $100,000 deposit, but I’m not sure that there was much more involved in participating. Supposedly the sealed bid auction that is taking place this week is going to allow for more background checking.
Not All That Sparkles is Gold: A Disappointing Twist to the Gruet Story….
Ben you need to finish the line….”or Champagne (or Sparkling Wine) Either”.
Regarding the curse….I have spoke to more than one person that feels strongly that it is an old Indian curse stemming from the statue above the entryway (see photo at: http://vintagetexas.com/blog/pics/CapRockWineryAuction.jpg
I have been told by one person, that if he/she bought the place, the first thing (they) would do is meltdown the Indian statue, carry the block of metal into the desert and bury it deep under the red sandy loam in the presence of both a Naative American Shaman doing a purification chant and a Catholic priest well versed in exorcisms.
Apparently, Laurant Gruet was bidding with funny money. In the news conference, Max Tarbox said that Gruet may be liable for the difference in price from the first auction and the re-auction. But, that is a hard road to go with payment still very uncertain.
Regarding the DWI, even TABC representatives told me that frankly there easy way ways around it.
The Gruet news DWI story in NM was generated on an anonymous tip. It could have been just a coicidence with the tip made by a concern NM citizen, or someone in the Gruet family/organization to put him on a shorter leash due to his errant ways, or someone in Texas that reckons to loose from the sale.
I think that we have to leave that for the conspiracy theorists or the X-files to go after.
Hopefully, there will still be a silver lining out there.
Yeah, I’m hoping none of that bad mojo rubbed off on me, after all, I have been to the place twice recently.
Would be interesting to know where the tip came from. I suspect that there will ultimately be some elements of this story that we will never know exactly what happened with.