Montesquieu Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday, with the wine seller saying it was no longer willing to prop itself up with high-interest loans that were needed after an unsuccessful foray into the cruise business, WSJPro reported. The San Diego-based company buys, makes and bottles wine under its own labels, as well as selling wines made by other wineries. Its main business, Montesquieu Winery, has been profitable for most of its nearly 30-year history. But in 2010 the company bought Spirit of the East, a 100-foot yacht that was going to take wealthy clients on cruises, according to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Those wine cruises never launched, but Montesquieu remained on the hook for some of the yacht’s debt service and storage and maintenance costs, majority shareholder and Chief Executive Fonda Hopkins said in a court filing. In late 2018, the U.S. Marshals Service seized the boat, the filing said. The company and affiliated businesses that also filed for bankruptcy said they regularly scrambled for cash through much of 2018 and into 2019. Last August, Montesquieu received $165,000 in financing from Forward Financing LLC. Montesquieu was required to repay $237,600 to Forward Financing and currently owes $62,000 on that debt, a bankruptcy filing said. Its biggest debt is about $3.5 million owed to vendors and other unsecured creditors, including vineyards and wineries, according to court documents.
