The California wine industry is facing a financial crisis, with most vineyards locked out of their accounts

California’s wine industry is on the brink of a financial crisis following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The bank was the premier financial institution for wineries in the Golden State for nearly three decades.

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed the bank on Friday after a rush from venture capitalists.

As of Friday night, thousands of wineries found they were completely locked out of their accounts with no clear timeline for accessing their funds.

Kendra Kawala, co-founder of Maker, a Bay Area-based canned wine company, called the news “devastating” and noted that Silicon Valley Bank is “the gold standard in the wine industry.”

California’s wine industry is on the brink of a financial crisis following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, including Maker, which makes canned wine

Kendra Kawala, co-founder of Maker, a Bay Area-based canned wine company, noted that Silicon Valley Bank is “the gold standard in the wine industry.”

Wineries accounted for 2 percent of the bank’s total lending business, but the impact is wide-ranging, including the inability to pay employees, bills or credit card payments. Pictured: Rows of grape vines growing on a vineyard in Napa, California (file photo)

When she founded Maker four years ago, choosing the right banking partner was almost child’s play.

“Technology and venture capital are well capitalized, but this could be a really serious reckoning for independent wineries,” Kawala said. “We have never experienced anything like this. Nobody knows how it will end.’

Wineries accounted for 2 percent of the bank’s total lending business, but the impact is wide-ranging, including the inability to pay employees, bills or credit card payments.

Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank in the country, had lent more than $4 billion to wineries and vineyards since 1994.

“Tech and venture are well capitalized, but this could be a really serious reckoning for independent wineries,” said Kawala, right. “We have never experienced anything like this. Nobody knows how it will end.’

Maker Wines founder Kendra Kawala is seen on the far right along with Chris Christensen (centre) who is part of the company’s Quality Control department

Rob McMillan, who worked for SVB, would write the bank’s annual State of the Wine Industry report, which wineries depended on for their own business prospects

The bank provided financing for everything from vineyard acquisitions to real estate and equipment purchases, served as an industry thought leader and issued an annual report on the state of the wine industry.

“So many of our company’s assets are tied up in inventory,” Jasmine Hirsch, winemaker and general manager at Hirsch Vineyards in Sonoma County, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “And who understands wine inventory? How do you rate it? How can you borrow against it if you don’t know how to value it?’

Silicon Valley Bank’s wine division founder Rob McMillan, who would write the annual insights, has so far declined to comment on the situation, but he had built the bank’s reputation as one of the few institutions that really understood the wine industry.

The data collected by the bank was a source of data that wineries would use to make decisions about future sales, marketing and farming.

The bank had a unique perspective on the industry due to the number of clients it assisted in financing.

In particular, the loss of the annual report means wineries don’t have access to the comprehensive analysis that has helped many to make decisions.

A new bank was formed on Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the National Bank of Santa Clara, which will hold Silicon Valley Bank’s remaining deposits and assets.

But only accounts valued at $250,000 or less are insured by the FDIC.