A Napa Winery Rebuilt After the Atlas Fire. Now It Faces Bankruptcy and $37 Million in Debt
The luxury Napa Valley winery spent six years rebuilding after the Atlas Fire and reopened with a state-of-the-art facility in 2024.
The wine industry has take another hit.
Napa Valley’s Signorello Estate just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The announcement comes nine years after the winery was destroyed by the Atlas Fire.
The estate’s lender, American AgCredit, moved to foreclose on the winery’s buildings, equipment, and the right to use the Signorello Estate name. According to court documents, it cited around $37 million in debt. A public auction that was scheduled for Friday outside of the Napa County Courthouse has since been postponed to September 25 due to the filing, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The filing reported that G3 Enterprises, a wine-packaging
The filing reported that G3 Enterprises, a wine-packaging company, is the winery’s largest unsecured creditor, with a debt of nearly $88,000. Earlier this month, G3 announced that it was laying off 66 workers and shutting down one of its facilities; theChronicle said that the two announcements are unrelated.
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Other major creditors include the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and a number of barrel and cork suppliers.
Signorello Estate was founded in 1977 by Ray Signorello Jr. and his father. In the region, it’s well-known for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends, as well as for being the first winery confirmed to have burned down during the Atlas Fire.
Rebuilding the winery took six years, Signorello told the SF Chronicle in 2024. He added that the project far exceeded its timeline and budget, with permit-related delays postponing the operation for three years, a drawn-out battle with the insurer causing further holdups. At one point, the Covid-19 pandemic halted construction.
Source: www.inc.com
