Beckstoffer files trademark lawsuit
A pioneering Napa Valley grapegrower has filed a federal lawsuit against businessmen over the use of his trademarked names, according to court filings.
W. Andrew “Andy” Beckstoffer alleges the defendants exploited the Beckstoffer-owned marks associated with the company he founded five decades ago to raise money to buy wineries and vineyards, according to the complaint. The allegations include federal trademark infringement and unfair competition.
“The defendants are unlawfully leveraging Andy Beckstoffer’s name and Beckstoffer Vineyards’ trademarks to raise capital to purchase vineyards and produce wine,” said Beckstoffer attorney Daniel Reidy of the Reidy Law Group in St. Helena.
“Neither Andy Beckstoffer nor Beckstoffer Vineyards has ever had a business relationship with the defendants. The lawsuit seeks to stop their unauthorized use and protect the name and goodwill of Beckstoffer Vineyards,” Reidy said.
The defendants include Atlanta-based Bay Point Capital Partners II and Bay Point Advisers; Charles Andros, president and chief investment officer at Bay Point Advisors, LLC; BPCP Wine Co., LLC; BPCP managing partners David Bernahl and Anand Menon; and Charles Banks IV of Atlanta.
Banks, a former financial advisor previously involved in such projects as Screaming Eagle, was sentenced in 2017 to four years in federal prison for defrauding NBA’s San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan of millions of dollars.
The trademarked names that are the focus of the complaint filed against Bay Point Capital Partners and the other defendants include Beckstoffer Vineyards, Beckstoffer Carneros Creek Vineyard, Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard, Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III and Beckstoffer Carneros Lake Vineyard.
Andy Beckstoffer included articles about his legacy in the lawsuit filed in federal court.
Beckstoffer Vineyards’ include 900 vineyard acres in Napa County, such as To Kalon and George II, and another 2,700 vineyard acres in Lake and Mendocino counties.
Wineries pay up to $30,000 a ton for Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Beckstoffer, according to the complaint. More than 70 wines made from Beckstoffer fruit have earned 95 or more points in Wine Spectator over the past 20 years. That’s more than any other Napa Valley grapegrower.
The Beckstoffer name and brand displayed on wine bottles “significantly increases the value of the wines, the price of the wines, and the status of the wine producer,” according to the complaint filed May 4 in U.S. District Court.
The matter began with a wine project of Andy’s son, Tuck Beckstoffer.
In 2007, Andy Beckstoffer and Beckstoffer Vineyard granted Tuck the “limited, conditional right to coexist” with the Beckstoffer marks and to use and register the term Tuck Beckstoffer Wines to “produce and sell wine,” according to the lawsuit. That permission could be reversed.
The lawsuit notes that, under the deal, Tuck’s “TBW” could be registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office if the mark was never to be used to “promote the sale of grapes,” according to the complaint. To that end, the terms “Tuck” and “Wines” were always to be used as “part of the mark,” according to the court filing.
In addition, the “TBW” mark was never to be “assigned, transferred or encumbered without the express permission of Andy Beckstoffer or Beckstoffer Vineyards” according to the lawsuit.
However, in 2022, Tuck Beckstoffer, without the plaintiffs’ knowledge, signed loan agreements with BP Capital Partners, according to the lawsuit.
As part of the deals, Tuck “purported” to pledge his “right, title and interest” in the TBW mark as “collateral for the loans..”
Around 2024, Tuck “purportedly defaulted on the loans and signed a foreclosure agreement” as well as a bill of sale for personal property and a trademark agreement, the lawsuit alleges.
Under the foreclosure agreement, Tuck Beckstoffer and one of his companies, Gondola LLC, transferred Tuck’s and Gondola’s “right title, and interest” in about 6,900 gallons of wine 4,740 gallons at Moshin Winery in Healdsburg, and 2,160 gallons at Hunnicut Winery in St. Helena.
The trademark agreement then granted BP Capital Partners permission to use the TBW mark in connection with “a certain ‘Business,’ defined as distributing and marketing” the 6,900 gallons of wine, according to the lawsuit.
“Upon being informed of this purported grant of rights to BP Capital Partners,” the plaintiffs “formally revoked the grant of rights” for the “TBW” mark, according to the court filing. On March 2026, Tuck Beckstoffer formally agreed to “the reversion of all rights, title, and interest in and to the TBW MARK back to Beckstoffer Vineyards,” according to the lawsuit.”
Tuck’s rights to use TBW mark reverted to his father and Beckstoffer vineyards, according to the lawsuit.
BP Capital Partners and the other defendants have circulated an investor deck in which to raise money, according to the complaint.
In the deck, the defendants “exploit the legacy of Andy Beckstoffer and Beckstoffer Vineyards’ ‘iconic’ grape growing properties,” according to the lawsuit.
The defendants suggest wine consumers will purchase their wine because they are associated with Andy Beckstoffer and Beckstoffer Vineyards, according to the complaint.
Charles Andros, president and chief investment officer at Bay Point Advisors, LLC, denied any wrongdoing.
“In his time of need, we made a loan to Tuck Beckstoffer secured by his rights to several trademarks, including his own name, which are referenced in the lawsuit,” Andros said. “We foreclosed. We will defend that action and our corresponding collateral in court.”
Tuck Beckstoffer is not a party in the federal lawsuit.
In a separate case, a judge in 2022 ordered Tuck Beckstoffer to pay more than $5 million in damages to former partners involved in Amulet, a Napa Valley winery. Tuck Beckstoffer is no longer involved in Amulet.
