(NBBJ0 - Vintage Wine Estates of Santa Rosa has purchased Cameron Hughes Wine Inc. for $15.5 million as part of a court settlement, bringing one of the most innovative wine labels in recent years into its portfolio.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has signed off on the settlement to allow Union Bank to recover money from loans that Cameron Hughes Wine had defaulted upon. Vintage Wine Estates President and CEO Pat Roney said the deal is expected to close within weeks.

The acquisition gives Vintage, the 17th largest wine company in the United States, a brand that is complementary to many of its other labels, such as its top-selling Middle Sister and local favorite B.R. Cohn, Roney said.

Like Vintage, Cameron Hughes has a strong direct-to-consumer business, with 150,000 wine buyers across the country, he said.

“We think the direct-to-consumer business could easily double to triple,” Roney said. “It creates an opportunity to expose their buyers to our wines and vice versa.”