Let us be your guide.
Winery transactions are complicated. Our goal is to help wineries, law firms, brokers and bankers navigate alcohol beverage laws and regulations and their impact on a transaction. We look forward to helping you stay focused and keeping your deal priorities on track.
About Cronbach Law Group
We are a Napa, California, law firm dedicated to providing expert guidance on the complex process of winery transactions and regulatory integration. With a combined 40 years of experience in successfully navigating the labyrinth of alcoholic beverage permitting and licensing, distributor contracts, buyer/seller due diligence, data room review and assessment of material due diligence issues, we are well-placed to lead wineries, law firms and brokers through the transactional process.
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We provide business-oriented guidance from data room set-up to fast-paced due diligence review and integration planning. In-house counsel and external deal firms typically have their hands full with other transaction-related priorities; the assessment of items such as regulatory transitions and distributor-alignment issues often stay low on the priority list until the transaction closes. This can create unnecessary delay and additional complexity during integration. As a specialist in this field, Cronbach Law Group takes the pressure off clients when it comes time to buy or sell a winery or brand. Post transaction, our team is also able to manage preparation and submission of required licensing updates and applications.
Practice Specialties
Alcoholic Beverage Licensing
Alcohol licensing is complex. From production licensing to out of state sales and fulfillment, licenses are needed for every phase of the process. Our team handles all aspects of winery licensing, including TTB and CA ABC licensing and out of state (direct to consumer, wholesale, self distribution) licensing.
Due Diligence
We review data room contents related to licensing, permitting, distributor alignment and more, providing a summary of material items organized by pre and post closing impact. Assistance resolving issues or managing external compliance providers available upon request.
Integration Planning
Pulling all the unique aspects of a transaction together we organize an integration timeline based on our client’s priorities. The timeline(s) may cover notification of ownership changes, wholesale licensing, direct to consumer (DTC) licensing, distributor integration and more.
Alicia H. Cronbach
Attorney
Working in the wine industry for over 20 years, Alicia has held general counsel positions at Treasury Wine Estates and Duckhorn Wine Company, guiding the regulatory integration of Treasury’s acquisition of the Diageo wine portfolio and Duckhorn’s integrations of Calera and Kosta Browne. Alicia founded Cronbach Law Group PC in May 2019 to focus on steering wineries, law firms and brokers through the complex maze of winery transactions.
Sarah A. Spiller
Director of Integration Strategy
Sarah has worked with Alicia Cronbach since 2007, when they joined the legal team at Treasury Wine Estates Americas – Sarah as a Compliance Specialist, Alicia as a Legal Administrator. Each rose up the ranks at Treasury and beyond, their paths intersecting again at Cronbach Law Group PC, where Sarah provides expertise in all areas of regulatory compliance, specializing in winery transactions and integration planning.
Cronbach Law Group
