Chateau Indage is the biggest wine producer in India with some 32 still and sparkling wine brands. With its 2.500 hectare estate and 137 grape varieties, Chateau Indage has a 15 million liter production capacity. It is the number one Indian producer and exporter of sparkling wines in some 69 countries. (Source: Eurowine)
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab has announced that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body has found in favour of the US against India’s additional and extra-additional duties on wine and spirits. India has imposed these duties on US imports in addition to and on top of its basic customs duty, resulting in combined duties on imports of alcoholic beverages of up to 550%. (Source: Wine Business International.com)
Bacardi-Martini highlights its products on its new website cocktailattitude.com with a list of cocktails for all its brands aimed at professionals and consumers. A great opportunity to remind people how to make a really good Mojito or a Bloody Mary and to give ideas of more uncommon mixes. (Source: Rayon Boissons)
Active in China since 1998, Castel Group, France’s largest wine producer, saw its sales volume reach 5.5m bottles in 2008, double that of 2007. The Company expects a further rise of 18%, or 6.5m bottles, in 2009. "The results have shown a sharp progression over the past two years, but it's a result of 10 years' hard work. We are also well placed to continue our sucess even the fianancial crisis affects China next year", Castel's marketing director said. (Source: Decanter.com)
Having integrated Absolut into its portfolio, Ricard has abandoned not only the distribution of Stolichnaya, but also Wyborowa, which joins Zubrowka in the Pernod range.
The second Pernod Ricard subsidiary has thus created a Polish vodka business. (Source: Décision Boissons)
La Martiniquaise has recently acquired the Scottish distillery Glen Moray, which produces the fifth largest brand of malt whisky on the British market. La Martiniquaise will also eventually produce its own grain whisky after the inauguration of stills in its Bathgate facility near Edinburgh. (Source: Rayon Boissons)
US group Constellation Wines has announced that it is going to install a solar energy system at its Gonzales Winery site in California. The project, which should be finished by the end of the year, will cover 170,000 sq. m of roofs and will be the largest installation of its type ever implemented on a winegrowing estate. (Source: VSB)
Chile’s VC Family Estates, which owns the Porta and Gracia wine labels, has announced a multi-million investment plan in Argentina.
Originally known as the Corpora Group, VC family Estates said it was buying a winery and a total of 300 hectares in the Rio Negro and Neuquen areas of Patagonia. The deal is worth €12m.
Jorge Goles, president of VC Family Estates told that their investment was likely to be part of a new wave of Chilean wine investment in Patagonia. He also said he wanted to become the leading producer of Pinot Noir in both Chile and Argentina. (Source: Decanter.com)
The sale of Château Montelena to the owner of Bordeaux’s Château Cos d’Estournel has collapsed. Chateau Montelena managing director Greg Ralston would not elaborate on the reason’s for the deal’s collapse. (Source: Decanter.com)
Crimson Wine Group has purchased Domaine Alfred, a leading California Pinot Noir producer. Included in the sale are the brand, the winery, inventory, and the 81 acres of vines. Financial details had not been disclosed. (Source: Wine Spectator)
Claire Taittinger has acquired a small domaine in the Savoie region. In partnership with Savoie negociant and producer, Philippe Viallet, Taitinger stumped up €2m for the 18ha Domaine Les Fils de René Quénard. It currently produces around 150,000 bottles per year. Claire Taittinger, whose husband Pierre-Emmanuel is general director of the eponymous Champagne house, said the investment was “totally independent” from the business in Reims. (Source: Decanter.com)
Alors que les ventes de champagne sont en décroissance, Jacquart affiche fin septembre 2008 une croissance de 8% en volume et 12% en valeur. A l’export, la marque poursuit la progression de sa distribution et enregistre une hausse des volumes de 8% et de 10% du chiffre d’affaires. (Source : VSB)
Wine and spirits group Rémy Cointreau has announced a 2.5% decrease in sales for the first 6-month period of the 2008 - 2009 year down to €365.1 million.
This overall figure results from a 1.6% increase in Cognac sales up to €170.2 million and an increase in Champagne sales of 1.9% up to €61.4 million euros, both of which were offset by a year-on-year 4.1% drop in sales of liqueur and spirits brands, down to €97.8 million. (Source: La Tribune.fr)
Norm Wesley, Chairman of Fortune Brands has announced his intention to retire after two decades spent managing the spirits group. He has been succeeded since 1st October 2008 by Bruce Carbonari, the former General Manager. (Source: VSB)
Concha y Toro, the leading Chilean wine growing group, which is the third largest in the world, is building its own distribution network in Finland, Norway and Sweden, which should be operational in 2009. This year, Concha y Toro forecasts sales of €22 million in the Nordic countries. With offices in 121 countries generating sales of €251 million in 2007, Concha y Toro accounted for 40% of Chilean wine exports. (Source: VSB)
Rémy Cointreau and William Grant & Sons have signed a distribution agreement concerning several European markets. In France, a new joint venture has been set up with a 50 - 50 share between the two family groups, to run Lixir, currently owned by Maxxium and Grant. (Source: Décision Boissons)
German group Henkell & Söhnlein has concluded a joint venture with the Indian group Allied Blenders & Distillers, one of the first spirits producers in India, in order to make and sell its vodka on the sub-continent. (Source: VSB)
Fair Trade wines are increasingly attractive especially given the public’s greater sensitivity to environmental and social issues. Hence, the firm Origin Wine (South Africa) offers red, white and rosé fair trade wines from South Africa, Argentina and Chile. Proceeds from sales will be used to finance the building of schools and hospitals. (Source: Eurowine)
Having sold 61,700 cases of still light wines in Japan in 2007, the Spanish wines group Felix Solis Avantis is in second position on this market, just after Freixenet group. Last year, all the Spanish exporters together sold more than a million cases on the Japanese market, which represents an increase of 17.2%. Spain comes fifth in this market just behind Chile. (Source: VSB)
A new structure has now been created for Pernod Ricard’s Denmark operations, following its takeover over the V&S Group on 23 July 2008. According to Jan Rose Pedersen, CEO of Pernod Ricard Denmark, the new name for the new giant will probably be Pernod Ricard Denmark, but this won’t be finally decided until the end of the year. (Source: Wine Business International.com)
Italian drinks group Campari has begun building a new factory to produce spirits brands in Brazil. The Brazilian plant, which will have an annual capacity of 50m litres, is expected to begin operating from October 2009.
Campari’s sales in Brazil fell 11.7% for the six months ended 30 June 2008, despite being boosted by a favourable exchange rate. (Source: Just-drinks)
The Quebec Alcohol Corporation (SAQ) achieved sales of €333 million, representing growth of 4.5% in the first quarter of its 2008-2009 year. While spirits sales remained stable at 4.1 million litres, volumes of wine sold increased from 29 million litres to 30.1 million. (Source : VSB)
The two American distributors, Southern Wine & Spirits and Glazer’s have formed a joint-venture together to cover 38 states, which represent 80% of all wine and spirits consumption in the US. (Source: Décision Boissons)
Jointek Fine Wines is planning to move its headquarters to Hong Kong to take advantage of the city’s decision to scrap all duties on wine. Jointek also hopes to benefit from better logistics in Hong Kong. The company’s current base is Guangzhou. (Source: The drinks business)
Amazon.com expects to start selling American wine inside the US within a few weeks, according to the Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVVA). Terry Hall, spokesman for the 315-member trade organization, said the NVVA has arranged workshops for producers who might want to sell their wine via Amazon. “The step forward with Amazon being a wine retailer is just more testament to the fact that Americans are really becoming a wine-drinking economy”, said Terry Hall. (Source: Decanter.com)
The Boisset group, a wine and spirits trader with €277 million turnover, is to sell its spirits division to La Martiniquaise for an undisclosed sum. Having been built up over time, this business is worth about €85 million. Through this acquisition, La Martiniquaise, one of the leading French spirits groups with nearly €700 million turnover, widens its product range. Boisset, on the other hand, should use the money from this sale to strengthen its portfolio of wines, especially sparkling wines. (Source: Les Echos)
Franco-Polish spirits group Belvedere is reported to be preparing to sell its star liqueur Marie Brizard and various whisky brands acquired for high prices two years ago, in order to reduce debts. This would represent the end of the Group’s ambitious expansion plans to become a world market leader capable of rivalling Pernod-Ricard, for example. (Source: Le Figaro Economie)
Fortune Brands has announced that it has finalised its transactions with Pernod Ricard and has notably received €160 million in compensation for the premature termination of the joint-venture agreement regarding the distribution of spirits in the US. Fortune Brands added that it has acquired the rum brand Cruzan from the French group for €70 million. (Source: Reuters)
Diageo has just announced that it has increased its shareholding in the traditional Sichuan distillery Quanxing from 43% to 49%. Diageo, who “has confidence in the potential of Chinese spirits”, undertakes to strengthen its support of the Shui Jing Fang brand internationally, under which Quanxing’s top premium products are sold. (Source: VSB)
Ian Johnston has been appointed CEO of the Foster’s Group effect. Johnston replaces Trevor O’Hoy who left in July after Foster’s had just announced writedowns, attributed largely to the disappointing performance of the wine sector. It was Fosters' first loss in 16 years. (Source: Wine Business International)
Changyu, the leading Chinese wine producer has just posted net profits of $39.8 million for the first semester of 2008, up 46% compared to the same period last year. This remarkable performance was driven by growth in premium wine and brandy sales. (Source: VSB)
John E Fells & Sons will no longer be the exclusive UK distributor for Bordeaux producer Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s (BPhR) wines. Rothschild has announced a new distribution strategy for the UK, and BPhR will now deal with the UK multiples directly and it is establishing a system of regional agents. “We decided the best way to approach the UK is to go direct”, said trade relations manager for BPhR. (Source: Harpers)
Western Australian producer Palandri Wines will now be known as 3 Oceans Wine after being purchased by Chinese businessman Xibo Ma. He was previously the second biggest shareholder in Palandri. (Source: Harpers)
Australian group Foster’s has posted its first loss in 16 years, down €238.1 million. This negative result is mainly attributable to decreases in its wine business amounting to a 5.7% fall in volumes sold and to the effect of the climbing Australian dollar. (Source: VSB)
Bernard Arnault the chairman of luxury group LVMH and Albert Frère the Belgian millionaire businessman, who are already co-owners of Château Cheval Blanc, have just taken over another Saint-Emilion property – the 15-hectare (37-acre) estate of Château Quinault. (Source: La lettre CHR-CHD)
Diageo, one of the leading wine and spirits company, is launching an innovative website designed to promote responsible drinking worldwide. The website, DRINKIQ.com, is a global resource for all interested parties to share programs and tools designed to fight alcohol misuse and help individuals make responsible choices about drinking. (Source: Diageo)
Pernod Ricard plans to invest €7 million in Graffigna over the next three years to make it the number one selling brand in the UK. In the next 12 months, the San Juan-based winery aims to increase UK sales from 60.000 to 100.000 none-litre cases. The winery is located 100 miles north of Mendoza, an area that has traditionally been seen as a quantity rather than quality producing area, but Pernod Ricard has spent €5.6 million in the past five years improving technology in the winery. (Source: Harpers.com)
Bacardi Limited has appointed Seamus McBride, 53, as its new president and CEO, effective September 1, 2008. Andreas Gembler, has led the company since 2005. “During each year of Andrea’s tenure, Bacardi produced record sales and earnings. He set the company on a transformative path that will serve us well into the future”, said Bacardi Ltd chairman. (Source: Impact)
On August, CEO of Diageo, Paul Walsh insisted on the morose economic environment which is triggering changes in consuming patterns that imply major marketing adjustments for Diageo’s products. “We are seeing there is a migration from the on-premise (pubs and bars) to the off-premise. We have to capture that off-premise occasion”, said Paul Walsh. (Source: Times online)
World spirits leader Diageo, whose growth objective was announced to be 9%, has declared an 11% increase in its net profit for the financial year 2007-2008. Diageo revises the growth forecast for its operational profit in 208-2009 to a level between 7% and 9%. (Source: Reuters)
ASC, the leading wine importer in China with outlets in most of the Chinese cities, will open an office in Hong Kong in October. ASC is aiming to take advantage of the abolition of customs duties there to offer a better service to local customers as well as the increasing numbers of tourists and other visitors flocking in from China in search of better priced products. (Source: VSB)
Christie’s International Wine Department, world leading auctioneer of fine wines had not held a sale in Asia since 2001. To celebrate its return, a major auction will be organised on 29 November in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, consisting of 250 lots, including 150 remarkable selections from the highly reputed Château Latour. (Source: Christie’s)
The Cabinet of the Quebec Government has nominated Philippe Duval to take the position of President and Managing Director of the Quebec Alcohol Corporation (SAQ). Mr Duval had been fulfilling these roles in a temporary capacity since November 2007. (Source : VSB)
Copyrigth 2008, Vinexpo - Legal
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