In an article on Friday, we speculated where Chateau Ste. Michelle may end up if Altria Group decides to sell the winery, which led to a culmination of emails from many subscribers.Several readers suggested the Antinori family of Tuscany, whose wines Ste. Michelle already distributes in the United States, could be interested. They pointed out … Continue reading “The Future of Ste. Michelle”

E&J Gallo is exploring new avenues of growth, which includes tequila, wines sales in China and Russia, and the reintroduction of sangria, according to president and ceo Joseph Gallo, son of co-founder Ernest Gallo. NEXT “IT” VARIETAL. Joseph said Malbec could be the next hot-selling varietal, calling it “a better version of merlot,” he was … Continue reading “Gallo Upping the Ante with Tequila and China”

Beam Global has appointed Robert Probst as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective September 29, 2008. He comes to Beam Global with 15 years of experience, most recently with Baxter International, a global healthcare company. At Baxter, he served as vice president, finance, strategy and business development, a leadership role that included responsibility … Continue reading “Alert: Beam Appoints New CFO”

Skyy Spirits has promoted Gerry Ruvo to chairman and ceo effective immediately. Ruvo was formerly president and ceo. In addition to this appointment, the company has also created a new position of coo/cmo to be filled by Andrea Conzonato, who was most recently group marketing director for Skyy’s parent company, Gruppo Campari in Milan. As … Continue reading “Alert: Skyy Appoints New Chairman and COO”

Australian wines continue to lose market share in the U.S. to American wines, Argentina, New Zealand and Chile despite a US8c fall in the value of the currency over the course of the month. Nielsen data shows that Australian wines fell by -3% in August in the U.S., despite an increase of 4% in US … Continue reading “Australian Wines Face a Tough August”

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that that the UK’s Barclays has reached an agreement to purchase the U.S. investment bank and capital-markets businesses of Lehman Brothers for about $2 billion. “The deal is to be put before a New York bankruptcy court judge for approval at 5 p.m. Lehman’s creditors are to meet at … Continue reading “Report: Barclays to Acquire Lehman Brothers”

Amazon.com isn’t the only website to jump on board with direct to consumer wine sales. The Wall Street Journal is now offering WSJwine (www.wsjwine.com), which allows wine lovers to order wine from all over the world via a dedicated website, toll free number (1-877-WSJ-WINE) or standard mail. The service offers “individual, knowledgeable advice on wine … Continue reading “WSJ Enters Wine Shipping Game”

In the latest wine shipping case, small wineries in Wisconsin are forming co-ops to avoid using wholesalers in certain scenarios. A state law that takes effect October 1 requires wineries to use wholesalers when selling to liquor and grocery stores. However, they are allowed to sell one case for individual use per year to Wisconsin … Continue reading “Wisconsin Wineries Form Co-Ops”

Japanese spirits group Suntory is reportedly interested in buying a 10-15% stake in Vijay Mallya’s United Spirits for $600 million, according to an article in the Economic Times. Other media reports claim the 15% stake is worth about $430 million at market value. The paper also said India-based USL is in talks with Pernod Ricard, … Continue reading “Report: Behemoths Battle Over USL”

Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey and Fedway Associates today announced that Fedway will represent the interests of Lauber of New Jersey, a division of Lauber Imports, Ltd., and enter into a joint marketing program with Southern for the other markets currently serviced by Lauber Imports. Previously a wholly owned division of Southern, the … Continue reading “Alert: Southern and Fedway Align in New Jersey”

Yellow Tail is launching its first national television advertising campaign this week, called “Tails, you win.” The $6 million campaign will run for the next 14 weeks on 10 popular national networks such as Lifetime and A&E.It will feature three different ads, using the figure of a mermaid, Godzilla and a comet all with “yellow … Continue reading “Yellow Tail Launches First TV Campaign”

This really shouldn’t come as a big surprise since Altria deals exclusively with tobacco products. However, in an article in Reuters, several analysts said they expect Altria to sell UST’s Ste. Michelle Wine Estates once it closes the $10.4 billion acquisition. One analyst predicted that Ste. Michelle could sell for as much as $800 million. … Continue reading “Altria Expected to Sell Wine Biz”

Altria Group said today it will acquire UST Inc. for about $11.7 billion, which puts two of the biggest tobacco brands, Marlboro and Skoal, under the same company. As a part of the transaction, Altria will gain control of St. Michelle wines as well.Altria will pay $69.50 per share in cash. Based on UST’s three-month … Continue reading “Altria to Acquire UST for $11.7 Billion”

On-premise restaurant wine sales continued to grow in 2007, but the rate of growth fell with the economy beginning in August 2007, according to two studies in Restaurant Wine magazine. Until then, sales were booming.A total of 68.8 million cases of wine were sold in U.S. restaurants ranging from casual to fine dining in 2007, … Continue reading “Top Wines in US Restaurants”

There has been a lot of reorganization since Pernod Ricard announced plans to acquire Absolut Vodka in March, with the latest development effecting the Maxxium joint-venture spanning Europe, Australia, Asia, Mexico and Canada. Recall that Vin & Sprit, The Edrington Group, Beam Global and Rémy Cointreau each hold a 25% stake in Maxxium. Today, V&S … Continue reading “Vin & Sprit Exits Maxxium”