Santa Rosa wine company reports net income boost since becoming publicly traded

Vintage Wine Estates on Tuesday released its first earnings since going public this spring, reporting net income of $4.1 million for fiscal 2021, a significant improvement over the loss of $14.7 million in the prior year.

The Santa Rosa-based wine company also announced it acquired the wine subscription service Vinesse, which has generated $20 million in revenue for owner Larry Dutra. Vintage Wine Estates will pay Dutra $14 million in cash with a $2.5 million bonus based on future performance.

“Vinesse currently outsources virtually all of their operations. We believe we can create significant cost synergies by bringing winemaking and distribution in house and marketing VWE’s brand portfolio through their channels,” said Pat Roney, the company’s chief executive officer.

The company reported that its 2021 net revenue reached $220.7 million, which was an increase of 16.2% over the prior fiscal year.

Roney noted in a statement that since becoming a public company that Vintage Wine Estates “has temporarily strained our resources, we are building out our team, outsourcing where needed and implementing processes to improve our capabilities.”

The company has $234 million in reserve for potential acquisitions and should be able to do three purchases within fiscal 2022, Roney said in a statement.