Vineyard sued by wine distributor for breach of contract

NEW ORLEANS – A New Orleans wine distributor is suing a vineyard that it allegedly had a good business relationship with for giving too short of notice of the contract's termination, leading to revenue loss.

Purveyor of Fine Wines LTD filed suit against Justin Vineyards & Winery LLC in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court on March 13.

The plaintiff asserts that it entered into a contract with the defendant in 2008 and obtained the right to distribute wines wholesaled by Justin in Louisiana. Prior to this time, the plaintiff claims that Justin products had not been distributed in Louisiana and no market had been established for Justin products in Louisiana. The agreement was allegedly without a stated duration. The plaintiff claims that through six years of distributing Justin brand wine, sales in Louisiana nearly tripled from 525 cases in 2008 to 1,413 cases in 2013. The contract was allegedly set to be terminated on July 1, 2014 and the plaintiff was notified by the defendant on June 2 of that same year.

The defendant is accused of being in violation of Louisiana law, which requires that an agreement without a specified duration be terminated by the giving of reasonable notice sufficient to allow a party to alter its affairs accordingly.

The plaintiff seeks an unspecified amount in damages for lost profits and damage to the business reputation of Purveyor of Fine Wines.

The plaintiff is represented by David S. Bland and James D. Prescott, III of New Orleans-based Bland & Partners PLLC.

This case has been assigned to Division A Judge Tiffany G. Chase.

Case no. 2015-02353.