Bio

An attorney in the Napa Valley focusing on wine industry law, business, real property and land use,  Matt Eisenberg works with winery and vineyard owners, wine and food-related companies, beer and spirits producers, real estate developers, hotels, restaurants, lenders, nonprofits and other regional, national and international clients.

Matt was born and raised just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Germantown Friends School.  He attended college at Columbia University, where he double majored in English and Psychology and graduated with honors in 1987. After Columbia, Matt worked in fundraising and donor/guest relations at The Pennsylvania Ballet and The Coca-Cola Company.

In 1991, Matt was determined to pursue his interest in the wine industry and became certified as a Wine Captain at the Sommelier Society of America. He then became a sommelier and wine buyer for the ‘21′ Club, the famed New York City prohibition-era restaurant and former speakeasy with a secret wine cellar in its vaulted basement.  What Matt only recently learned, and that made his pursuit of a career in wine even more fated, was that his grandfather and his brothers were known as the “Silvers Brothers Alcohol Mob” during Prohibition, a well-known family bootlegging and rum-running operation based in Philadelphia.

In 1993, Matt returned to Philadelphia to attend law school, graduating in 1996 from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he was selected for the Temple Law Review and received the Best Writer award at graduation. Matt also clerked in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania during his third year of law school. After law school, Matt worked for the Philadelphia-based law firm of Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers, where he practiced securities law, creditor’s rights and commercial litigation in both the state and federal courts.

In 1998, Matt moved to the Napa Valley to pursue his passion for the wine and hospitality industry and its allied businesses. At Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty for over ten years, Matt further developed his expertise in business, real property, alcohol beverage and land use for clients in these and related industries. In 2003, Matt was elevated to the status of Director (and Shareholder) after only four years at the firm.

Since arriving in Napa, Matt has worked for business clients on entity selection and formation through acquisitions and sale or merger. He has guided individuals and families on various business issues, succession and land use/planning. Matt has worked for both public and privately-held companies on securities offerings and a range of business and real property transactions. In this regard, he has successfully negotiated acquisitions and sales of vineyard, winery, brewery, resort, restaurant and related assets, a range of debt and equity financing transactions, complex vineyard leases and grape contracts, in addition to preparing and structuring investment offering materials and advising clients on a variety of finance, real property, alcohol beverage (ABC/TTB) and business/corporate planning issues, including workouts/restructurings, 1031 exchanges, due diligence and real property sales tax issues/appeals.

Matt represents a range of local, regional and national clients, in addition to international clients in brokerage, distribution and general business and real estate matters. Matt’s professional affiliations include membership in the Business and Real Property sections of The State Bar of California, the Napa County Bar Association and the Napa Chamber of Commerce.

Outside of his law practice and non-profit pursuits, Matt’s time is spent with his wife Hillary Homzie, a children’s book author and professor, and their three young boys (Jonah, Ari and Micah).  Matt’s interests include travel (both near and far), piano and keeping up with his boys on the tennis court.