One minute we hear that young adults are embracing wine with open arms, and the next thing we know industry insiders are encouraging their counterparts to reach out to this virtually untouched demographic. No matter which side you take, it goes to say that millennials, or any demographic for that matter, could stand a little … Continue reading “HOW TO MARKET WINE FRIENDLY WINE TO MILLENNIALS”

Brown-Forman is saying good-bye to Michael Crutcher, the company’s vice chairman, general counsel and secretary, who is retiring effective August 31. Michael joined B-F in May of 1989, and has since then accomplished a whole host of things including serving as an advisor to the company and as chairman for DISCUS. You are unauthorized to … Continue reading “BROWN-FORMAN BIDS ADO TO MICHAEL CRUTCHER”

The Daily Telegraph reports that Asda, a British subsidiary of Wal-Mart, is considering making a bid for rival U.K. supermarket chain J Sainsbury. According to the article, the retailer is reportedly on the verge of contacting the competition authorities to nail out a practical bid for Sainsbury, which is owned by a private equity consortium … Continue reading “WAL-MART CONSIDERS A BID FOR SAINSBURY”

While Britain currently holds the number one spot for Champagne exports, the U.S. remains its second largest market by volume. According to the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), Champagne exports to the U.S. were up 12% to over 2 million cases last year, helped by a surge of popularity in the rosé category … Continue reading “CHAMPAGNE IMPORTS GROW 12%”

Sometimes, when it comes to wine, it’s what’s on the outside that counts. Just walk down a wine aisle in your local grocery store, and you’ll see a whole range of critter labels, outlandish titles, boxes, juice boxes and single-serve four packs. In fact, ACNielsen numbers show that boxed wines are the fastest growing category … Continue reading “MAS TANK: A NEW WAY TO STORE WINE”

Pernod Ricard USA and United States Beverage of Stamford, Conn. have agreed to stick it out. According to local news reports, Pernod was hoping to pull its Seagram’s Cooler brand from United and move it to High Falls Brewing Co. of Rochester. In doing so, Pernod filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in … Continue reading “UNITED STATES BEVERAGE WINS PERNOD LAWSUIT”

Last week WSD covered reports by the Daily Iowan of an out-of-state retailer shipping wine directly to an Iowa college student in violation of that state’s law, which prohibits direct-to-consumers sales by out-of-state retailers. In response to these reports, Craig Wolf of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) issued a statement condemning the … Continue reading “SPECIALTY RETAILERS FIRE BACK AT THE WSWA”

The spirits industry had a small victory today when Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe signed a law that will allow liquor stores to hold spirits tastings for consumers. With the signing of House Bill 2397, Arkansas became the 15th state since 2000 to allow or expand its spirits tastings on or off-premise. You are unauthorized to … Continue reading “ARKANSAS TO ALLOW SPIRITED TASTING”

Former senior vp of HR for Constellation Wines, Chester Hutchinson, has joined the Brunton Vineyards advisory board and will oversee executive hiring. In addition to Constellation, Chester also served at Diageo Chateau & Estate and currently co-owns Human Resource Business Partners. You are unauthorized to view this page. Username Password Remember Me     Forgot … Continue reading “BRUNTON NABS FORMER CONSTELLATION EXEC”

Sauza Mexico., an operating company of Beam Global has appointed Hector Hernandez to replace Andy Consuegra as managing director, the company’s top commercial position in Mexico, effective May 2. Hernandez will report directly to Jim Clerkin, president of Beam Global North America. According to a statement from the company, Consuegra stepped down for personal reasons … Continue reading “BEAM GLOBAL WELCOMES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENT”

The Southern California grocery industry is once again bracing for the possibility of widespread union strikes which debilitated the industry back in 2003. The three-year contract covering 65,000 workers at Albertson’s, Ralph’s, and Von’s will expire April 9. Already Albertson’s union employees have authorized a strike. You are unauthorized to view this page. Username Password … Continue reading “SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BRACING FOR GROCERY STRIKE”

Much in the American tradition of shortening everything, Delicato Family Vineyards has switched its name to three simple initials: DFV Wines. It’s Custom Resource Group and vineyard holdings will, however, retain the Delicato Family Vineyards name.DFV also redesigned its logo to feature three hills representing its family heritage, vineyards and wines.”We recognize that the future … Continue reading “DELICATO MODERNIZES ITS IMAGE”

Remember that warehouse fire we reported on last week? After Mark Anderson allegedly set fire to his wine storage unit in 2005 that contained 6 million bottles of wine and incurred a whopping $250 million in losses, he plead not guilty to charges on Monday.Here’s a quick refresher. Authorities say Mark set the fire to … Continue reading “ACCUSED ARSONIST PLEADS “NOT GUILTY””

Yesterday, the EU asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to form a dispute settlement panel to hash out the tax issues in India. Presently, the Indian government imposes a basic customs duty of 150% on imported spirits and 100% on imported wines. Along with the additional duties, the levies range between 177% and 540%.Last month, … Continue reading “EU CALLS IN THE WTO”

After NABCA (control states) spirits volumes soared in January to 4.12% from the previous year, February volumes were up only 1.6%, according to Melissa Earlam of UBS based on data from Information Resource (IRI). Last year, spirits grew 4% overall, leaving 2.8% YTD growth at a considerable disadvantage. Nevertheless, Melissa “does note a relatively tough … Continue reading “SPIRITS VOLUMES FALL FROM JANUARY”