Triumph Wine Group declines to respond to WII request for comments, corrections.

Wine Industry Insight emailed Triumph Wine Group on Friday, January 12 asking for comments and any corrections. A copy of the draft article was enclosed in the email.

 

The following non-reply was received:

On Jan 15, 2018, at 8:45 AM, michael rupprecht <michael@rupprechtlaw.com> wrote:

 

Dear Mr. Perdue:

As I indicated to you in my correspondence the evening of January 12, 2018, this office is General Counsel to Triumph Wine Group.   Without any previous contact with my client, on Friday evening, January 12, 2018,  you sent a draft of an article you intend to publish today that is replete with false statements concerning the legality of my client’s licensure and lack of compliance with the law. In fact, the opposite of what you allege is true. I requested that you postpone your article to allow time for our response. You refused and stated you will publish your article by noon today. While you are entitled to your opinions, you are not entitled to make false statements about my client’s professional character or that my client is violating the law. Your draft article is not written as your opinion but rather it is written with the intent that your reader would perceive that you are in the position to know your allegations as a fact. You do not.  That is not fair comment, it is a hit piece intended to harm my clients business.  Rather than risk damage to my client from statements that are not true, my client’s management offers to meet with you to educate you on the facts of the operations of Triumph Wine Group. My client is hopeful that you take this opportunity to meet with management and learn the facts about Triumph Wine Group and the dedication of the management team to its success and that of its investors.

 

Wine Industry Insight replied:

From: Lewis Perdue <lperdue@ideaworx.com>
Subject: Re: Triumph Wine Group
Date: January 15, 2018 at 9:20:59 AM PST
To: michael@rupprechtlaw.com

 

Your client has had since Friday, January 12 to respond. That is far more time than needed to reply.

 

Wine Industry Insight requested comments, corrections and other information that would make this the most accurate and in-context article possible.

 

This article cites public documents and makes statements of fact that are corroborated by the best information sources available. If your client has better information, then your client should share that. We asked for your help days ago.

 

Further, no reader of this article needs to be “educated” by your client to know that soliciting investments without providing an offering statement and other needed disclosures is a legal violation.

 

No education is needed to know it is wrong to mislead people onto thinking they are buying part of a winery when they are actually getting unspecified securities in exchange for a basket of wine club-like privileges in a bulk bottling operation is certainly misleading on its face.

If you or your client have SPECIFIC examples of anything incorrect, then we will be happy to include those.