Closed wine seller lists well-known clientele

Raleigh's Carolina Wine Co. left vino lovers across the country with empty glasses when it suddenly shut down this year.

But the company's bankruptcy filing reveals that it had widespread and, in some cases, famous clients.

The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, includes 53 pages detailing roughly 1,400 creditors to whom the company owes money.

They include not just the usual banks, utilities and vendors but also the more unusual, including an "M Easley" listed at 200 N. Blount St. in Raleigh, the address of the governor's mansion; Pete Sodini, president and CEO of Sanford convenience store chain The Pantry; and an Itzhak Perlman from New York, N.Y.

Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, said that all alcohol purchases are made with private funds so there's no record of which M. Easley bought the wine or how much money was lost. Calls to the publicist for violinist Perlman were not immediately returned.

Calls and e-mail messages to Carolina Wine Co. owner Chrish Peel and his attorney also were not returned.

In an interview in January, Peel blamed the closure of the wine company on computer problems. At that time, he said there was a chance the company would reopen. He also closed his Enoteca Vin restaurant in Raleigh in January, though he said then that the two closures were not related. It was not clear from the bankruptcy filing whether the restaurant was included under the umbrella of Carolina Wine Company, Inc.

For customers, who have gone three months with little information, the filing was confirmation of what many had already accepted.

"It doesn't matter, I'm going to be out the funds," said Greg Thomas, a St. Louis resident who is owed about $600 in wine. "The thing I want to know is, are the economic times a factor in this, or was it poor money management, or a combination of the two?"

Some customers have had some success getting their money back by disputing the charges with their credit card companies.

Others were considering legal action.

So far, 55 have filed complaints with N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper's office.

And 200 have contacted Charlotte resident Tom Ricks, who set up an e-mail address (CarolinaWineCompanyClaims@gmail.com) so that former customers could share information.

Those people have lost anywhere from $100 in wine to $47,000, Ricks said. But at this point, a lawsuit is unlikely..

"The chances of recovering anything are just so slim," he said. "Some folks did talk to lawyers about what to do, and I don't think anyone concluded that it was worth it to proceed."

Still, that's a bitter pill to swallow for customers who feel cheated.

Robert Weisbuch, who is president of Drew University in New Jersey, declined to offer a specific figure but said he lost thousands of dollars.

Now after a few months, he said, he is most bothered by the way in which the business closed shop without telling anyone what was happening.

"Anyone can fail in business," Weisbuch said. "But the way this guy tried to wiggle out of it is unforgivable. ... The duplicity of it. The lies, the deceit. That's what's unforgivable. And I hope the punishment is harsh."