CONSUMER BACKLASH PROMPTS NAME CHANGE
Riverland growers say McGuigan Simeon is changing its name because of consumer backlash from the company’s bitter contract negotiations with growers spanning several years, according to local reports. Apparently, the company raised concerns about consumer opinion to its growers at meetings in December. Shareholders voted last week to change McGuigan Simeon to Australian Vintage Limited.
“Consumer resistance was a result of or was believed to be a result of the very negative view that consumers were taking as a result of the company’s poor treatment of growers in the inland regions,” said Chris Byrne from the Riverland Winegrape Growers Association to a report in ABC News.
It’s not clear whether the winery will market its wines under the name Australian Vintage, which was the name of the company until 2002 when Simeon Wines and McGuigan’s merged, or if it will continue to market its wines under the McGuigan Simeon name.
McGuigan Simeon says the name change is not a result of negotiations, but acknowledged that consumer sentiment has been negatively affected in some cases by grower sentiment.
ANGOSTURA TO REOPEN CHARLES MEDLEY DISTILLERY
Angostura says it will reopen the Charles Medley Distillers plant in northwestern Owensboro, Ky., later this year after a $25 million renovation. The renovation will increase the distillery’s annual production rate from 1.5 million proof gallons of bourbon to between 2.5 million and 3 million gallons. The company also plans to build whiskey barrels in Owensboro for the first time in decades, according to the Associated Press. Once it’s distilled, the bourbon will be aged for four years in new charred white oak barrels that will be made on site. The plant is expecting to produce 20,000 barrels a year and will likely export the majority to Europe and the Far East. Angostura also reportedly plans to create a new Charles Medley Kentucky Bourbon label. The plant hasn’t been used in 15 years, but Angostura is hoping to start production in six to nine months.
ADMIRAL IMPORTS SIGNS DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH TOSTI
Admiral Imports will become the importer of Italian wine and spirits company, Tosti, in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands effective February 1, 2008. The Tosti portfolio includes Tosti Asti Spumante, one of the largest selling Asti Spumante brands in the U.S. market. It also includes Tosti Prosecco, Tosti Bracato, Tosti Brachetto and the Torlasco line of wines from the Provincia di Pavia area including Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio. Soon to be launched will be Torlasco Moscato di Asti.
NEW YORK RESTAURANTS HAVE REFILLED A LAWSUIT in federal district court to challenge the city’s revised requirements that larger chain restaurants prominently post calorie content for each menu item, according to NRN. A federal judge struck down a similar law in September as a result of a lawsuit filed in the summer by the New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA).
NEWMAN’S OWN launched its 2006 chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon last week. Founder Paul Newman will donate all profits and royalties after taxes to educational and charitable purposes. Newman worked closely with the Rebel Wine Co., a collaboration of Three Thieves and Trinchero Family Estates. The wines have a suggested retail price of $16 per bottle and are available nationally.
SOYUZ VICTAN plans to outsource sales and distribution for its Silk vodka brand in the U.S. to Compass Brands. Soyuz Victan USA had previously handled sales and distribution out of its headquarters in New Jersey.
HEAVEN HILL DISTILLERIES announces that Tracy Mutter has been named the On-premise Area Manager for San Francisco. Tracy will be responsible for overseeing sales and development for all on-premise accounts in the San Francisco area, working closely with Young’s Market Company. Tracy comes to Heaven Hill with previous experience in the industry selling wine and spirits for Young’s Market Company.
JIM BEAM IS CELEBRATING the filling of its eleven millionth barrel, which took place on February 1. “Not only have we filled another million barrels, but we’ve done so in the shortest amount of time our company has ever seen – two years, eleven months and three weeks,†said Jeff Conder, vice president, North American operations for Beam Global Spirits & Wine
OWNER OF CLOS FOURTET, Philippe Cuvelier, has bought Chateau Poujeaux, the large former cru bourgeois estate in the Medoc, it was announced today. The selling price was an estimated $37 million.
MISSISSIPPI HAS APPOINTED NEW ABC DIRECTOR, Patsy Holeman, after serving with the Tax Commission for 26 years.
I WILL BE TRAVELING out of the country from February 5-February 14. My fellow editor Harry Schuhmacher will take over the reigns starting tomorrow until I return next week.
Until Feb. 14, Megan
“Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.”
David McCullough
——— Sell Day Calendar ———-
Today’s Sell Day: 2
Sell days this month: 21
Sell days this month last year: 20
This month ends on a: Fri.
This month last year ended on a: Wed.
YTD sell days Over/Under: 0
