Final Hammer Dropping On WineGavel?

San Francisco-based WineGavel, a three-year-old live and online wine auction company,  has had its warehouse operation — Cellar 29 — evicted by the landlord last week, according to witnesses who said they observed papers being served by Napa County Sheriffs.

The development has left auction winners confused about where to pick up their purchases and wondering about the status of the company. Further, consignees of wine lots have told WII that their payments are overdue.

The company has been substantially non-responsive to inquiries from buyers. Further, multiple phone calls and emails to the company and its executives from Wine Industry Insight over the past two days have met with no response at all.

FIRST ALERTS CAME FROM CONFUSED BUYERS

Wine Industry Insight has received numerous emails from confused buyers.

“I’ve been picking up wine purchased at auction from Cellar 29 for about 12 months now,” read one email. “Friday, I get to the location in the Napa near the airport [1907 N. Kelly Rd.] and there’s is no one there except a company next door that’s expanding into Cellar 29’s space. No signs on the windows — the adjacent business doesn’t know anything about where the Cellar 29 business moved or if it’s still in business.”

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