New Hambrecht e-IPO Venture Starts With Wine

Ravenswood wines have attracted a cult following of off-beat, Xtreme wine fanatics who crave its gutsy Zinfandels and Cabernets, but the jury's out on whether the IPO it filed late on Feb. 4 will be as robust as the wine.

According to the Sonoma-based winery's Securities and Exchange Commission filing, it registered 1.15 million shares (representing about 25% of the company's common stock) to be offered at $13.50 on the Nasdaq National Market to trade as RVWD. The offering is being handled by OpenIPO the new Internet-based brainchild of long-time investment banker and winery owner Bill Hambrecht and his son Bob.

This makes Ravenswood the first deal for OpenIPO and its rumored-plans to sell new issues directly over the Internet. As the owner of a winery (Belvedere) and vineyards in Sonoma County, it's natural that Bill Hambrecht would look at a winery for his new venture's first offering. ...