COPIA, the ambitious Napa Valley, center for wine, food, and the arts, in California's wine country, had closed on Nov. 21 for what was believed to be a brief period in order to file for bankruptcy and restructure, intending to reemerge with more favorable financings terms.
COPIA, the ambitious Napa Valley, center for wine, food, and the arts, in California's wine country, had closed on Nov. 21 for what was believed to be a brief period in order to file for bankruptcy and restructure, intending to reemerge with more favorable financings terms. Launched seven years ago with grand intentions and led by an initial generous gift from one of the well established local wineries, Robert Mondavi, the complex was designed to be Napa Valley's cultural center, providing a hub for the exploration, celebration and sharing of the pleasures and benefits of wine, its relationship to food and its significance within our culture. COPIA offered visitors exceptional wine and food-tasting programs, cooking and wine classes, exhibitions, organic gardens, films, concerts, fine and casual dining, and shopping for local products. The belief that it would remake itself with more viable financial circumstances, took a blow today as the U.S. Bankruptcy judge reviewing the matter, rejected the center’s intended arrangement of securing a $2 million line of credit, all but derailing hopes of a renewed future for the center.
COPIA’s business relationships, bond trustee BoNY Mellon, and ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation, the bond insurer, rejected the proposal for the center to gain the line of credit, resulting in the judge ruling against the first step toward COPIA’s pursuit of finding more manageable terms for its $78 million debt. As a result of the judge’s ruling, there seem to now be few options available. COPIA’s CFO, Joe Fischer, spoke publicly, suggesting that any hope that the Napa Valley center might find a means of continuing, looked bleak. He believes that the center’s only activity moving forward will be to proceed with the winding down of the business. The Napa Valley center does have one more hearing before the bankruptcy court on December 19th, to try to secure a solution, before going into receivership.
