Judge to Gruet: Pay $4 million

The final tally — as well as some incredibly juicy details — is in, and the soap opera that was New Mexico's Gruet Winery's attempt to buy Texas' bankrupt Cap*Rock Winery is apparently over. Regular visitors here will recall that Laurent Gruet, whose family owns the New Mexico sparkling wine producer, bid $6.5 million that he didn't have for Cap*Rock at a bankruptcy sale. When Gruet couldn't come up with the money, he was sued by the bankrupcty trustee. 

The details are in the Lubbuck newspaper; some highlights after the jump:

? The failed bid was tied up in Laurent Gruet's attempt to buy the winery from his three sisters. He didn't tell them ahead of time that he wanted to by Cap*Rock, so when one sister, who was the company president, heard about the deal, she blocked her brother's access to the cash that he was going to use to close the purchase. The joys of a family business, no?

? The judge ruled that Laurent Gruet, and not the Gruet winery, has to come up with money. The $4 million is the difference in what Cap*Rock was eventually sold for, $2.5 million a month later, and what he bid. The judge also ruled that Laurent Gruet wasn't guilty of fraud, since he did make an effort to raise the money.

? Laurent Gruet had no comment, reported the newspaper, and would not accept telephone calls. That's probably the only smart thing he has done throughout this entire process.

A tip o' the Wine Curmudgeon's fedora to Russ Kane at Vintage Texas, who sent me the newspaper story.