{"id":233760,"date":"2025-05-10T01:41:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T01:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alcohol\/exclusive-news-and-research-on-the-wine-spirits-and-beer-business-123\/"},"modified":"2025-05-10T01:41:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T01:41:05","slug":"exclusive-news-and-research-on-the-wine-spirits-and-beer-business-123","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Deutsch Family Files Lawsuit Against Former Company President<\/h2>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 9, 2025<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits (DFWS) has filed a lawsuit against former company president Tom Steffanci, alleging that during his tenure Steffanci violated confidentiality agreements in numerous ways and improperly conducted outside business using his Deutsch credentials. Steffanci was a top executive at the company as it built Josh Cellars into the U.S. market\u2019s leading wine brand in retail value terms, according to Impact Databank.<\/p>\n

The allegations in Deutsch\u2019s lawsuit came to light in the fallout from Steffanci\u2019s own 2020 lawsuit against the company, in which he asserted he was entitled to royalties from the Josh Cellars and Joseph Carr brands via his 20% stake in holding company DFG V, which had been arranged through Deutsch Family years earlier. Additional allegations of impropriety emerged during extended contract negotiations between Deutsch and Steffanci over the past year.<\/p>\n

According to Deutsch\u2019s suit, which is now pending in the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, Steffanci was entitled to a buyout of his 20% stake in DFG V after he left Deutsch Family, pending certain preconditions, which Deutsch says he\u2019s failed to fulfill. Specifically, Deutsch\u2019s suit states that \u201cSteffanci could not finish his employment at the Company and then be entitled to a buyout if he had committed any terminable conduct during his employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Deutsch alleges that Steffanci breached his employment contract in multiple ways, such as by using his Deutsch email address to solicit business for Boyanci Wines, a California winery owned by Steffanci and his wife. As part of his contract, Steffanci was obligated \u201cto not solicit business on behalf of Boyanci\u2014or even discuss Boyanci\u2014with DFWS\u2019s business partners and competitors in the industry,\u201d according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Deutsch alleges that in February 2015, Steffanci \u201creached out to a California winemaker employed by one of DFWS\u2019s key business partners to see if the winemaker had interest in sharing an existing contract for grapes that Boyanci had entered into at an earlier date.\u201d According to Deutsch, Steffanci made this proposition from his Deutsch email address. As of the late April filing, Deutsch said it\u2019s unaware of other violations of the \u201cBoyanci Provision\u201d in Steffanci\u2019s employment contract but that more may be uncovered during discovery.<\/p>\n

Following Steffanci\u2019s original lawsuit against Deutsch, the company says it also discovered numerous breaches of Steffanci\u2019s confidentiality agreement, including sharing of private company marketing and financial information with Steffanci\u2019s wife, neighbor, bank, and the networking group Young Presidents\u2019 Organization. Steffanci also created and shared a Powerpoint presentation with the organizers of the Wine Industry Financial Symposium 2024, which contained confidential information.<\/p>\n

Steffanci continued on as Deutsch\u2019s president for several years even after suing the company, and Deutsch says it was aiming to extend his tenure with a new contract up through much of last year. But the company alleges that Steffanci did not negotiate his contract renewal in good faith. The suit says that for seven months Steffanci \u201cengaged in dilatory tactics like moving the goalpost on negotiations, backtracking on prior proposals, seeking to alter terms that had already been agreed upon in principle,\u201d among other stalling tactics.<\/p>\n

After the contract negotiations broke down, SND exclusively reported early this year the appointment of veteran sports executive Mike Dee as Deutsch\u2019s new president.<\/p>\n

Deutsch also says that Steffanci hampered the company\u2019s investigation into his alleged confidentiality violations by taking and extending a leave of absence up to March 31, 2025, his final day as company president.<\/p>\n

Then, on April 3, three days after leaving the company, Steffanci, according to the filing, contacted Deutsch CEO Peter Deutsch to begin the process of valuing Steffanci\u2019s stake in DFG V. That move, says Deutsch, necessitated its lawsuit to clarify that Steffanci is no longer entitled to the buyout after breaching his employment contract.<\/p>\n

Deutsch is seeking court certification that, due to his conduct, Steffanci \u201chas no right to be rewarded with a buyout of his interest\u201d in DFG V. In addition, Deutsch is seeking monetary damages to be determined at trial, attorneys fees, and an injunction preventing Steffanci from further disclosing Deutsch\u2019s proprietary information.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Shanken News Daily\u2019s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2024 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2024 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS<\/span>. CLICK HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deutsch Family Files Lawsuit Against Former Company President May 9, 2025 Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits (DFWS) has filed a lawsuit against former company president Tom Steffanci, alleging that during his tenure Steffanci violated confidentiality agreements in numerous ways and improperly conducted outside business using his Deutsch credentials. Steffanci was a top executive at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12029],"tags":[3171,907,1305,1820,10113,16238,9182],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-233760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alcohol","tag-beer","tag-business","tag-exclusive","tag-news","tag-research","tag-spirits","tag-wine"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deutsch Family Files Lawsuit Against Former Company President May 9, 2025 Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits (DFWS) has filed a lawsuit against former company president Tom Steffanci, alleging that during his tenure Steffanci violated confidentiality agreements in numerous ways and improperly conducted outside business using his Deutsch credentials. Steffanci was a top executive at the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-10T01:41:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-10T01:41:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\"},\"wordCount\":742,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Beer\",\"Business\",\"EXCLUSIVE\",\"NEWS\",\"Research\",\"spirits\",\"Wine\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alcohol\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\",\"name\":\"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-10T01:41:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Deutsch Family Files Lawsuit Against Former Company President May 9, 2025 Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits (DFWS) has filed a lawsuit against former company president Tom Steffanci, alleging that during his tenure Steffanci violated confidentiality agreements in numerous ways and improperly conducted outside business using his Deutsch credentials. Steffanci was a top executive at the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-10T01:41:05+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business","datePublished":"2025-05-10T01:41:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760"},"wordCount":742,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Beer","Business","EXCLUSIVE","NEWS","Research","spirits","Wine"],"articleSection":["Alcohol"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760","name":"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-10T01:41:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=233760#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exclusive news and research on the wine, spirits and beer business"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=233760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=233760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=233760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=233760"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=233760"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=233760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}