Silicon Valley Bank catered to Napa Valley wineries and could finance 'French oak barrels' if needed. The bank's demise 'surprised everyone,' a vineyard owner says.

• Silicon Valley Bank lent over $4 billion to wineries in the past 30 years, according to its website.
• The bank understood the unique needs of the industry, a winery estate owner told Insider.
• But the bank's "governance" and "internal strategies" always remained a mystery, he said.

For the past 20-odd years, Silicon Valley Bank was a great banking partner for CADE Estate Winery, a Napa Valley-based company with four wineries, multiple vineyards, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom as one of its investors, founder John Conover told Insider.

The bank seemed to understand the unique demands and challenges of the industry, offering low-interest rate loans, "seasonal crop lines of credit" and "equipment loans and debt restructuring," according to SVB's website.