FREIXENET
Eva Bertran has been named VP-Marketing for the company’s entire portfolio of imported and domestic wines. A native of Barcelona, Spain, Bertran joined the Freixenet Group in 1986, launching the company’s California winery, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards, and helping to establish the Spanish firm’s American subsidiary and import arm,... Read More
Banfi Vintners
Charles Andrews has been named General Manager – overseeing sales, marketing and public relations. Andrews brings with him over 37 years of wholesale industry management experience. He joined National Distributing Company as President in 2OO3 and was part of the team that oversaw its 2OO7 merger with Republic Distributing Company,... Read More
SWINDLER’S WINES GO FOR BIG BUCKS
When it comes to auctioning off the belongings of notorious criminals, it’s safe to assume the public will pay top dollar for a piece of history. Bernie Madoff was a low-class thief but he had an impressive wine collection and bidders were all too eager snap up lots. Madoff’s eclectic... Read More
OFF-PREMISE SALES GET A BIG BOOST
The overall economy may be slow to recover but the wine industry just got some good news. Off-premise wine sales data increased 1O% over the same four-week period last year, according to market research firm Symphony IRI Group. The unusually high spike in sales was partly due to Easter falling... Read More
THE FIRST IPAD WINE MAGAZINE
By the Grape is the first wine magazine worldwide built specially for the iPad. It is available for download and costs $ 3.99. Its premier international issue was devoted to Jancis Robinson, one of the world’s best-known wine writers. By the Grape is published by Derrick Neleman, founder of bythegrape.com.
FOSTER’S AND WINE . . . NOT A GOOD PAIRING
Foster’s ill-fated foray into the wine business is over. The company has spun off its wine division into a separate company called Treasury Wine Estates, prompting speculation that key brands, or the new company itself, might be up for sale. Treasury Wine Estates, will run a portfolio of brands including... Read More
AB CUTS THE ABV IN TILT
Now that high alcohol drinks in a can are no longer as trendy as they once were, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s US unit is lowering the alcoholic content in large containers of its popular Tilt malt beverage as the company seeks to improve the product’s public image. Tilt will be reformulated... Read More
BAILEYS MUDSLIDE
This new ready-to-serve cocktail joins Baileys with a Hint of Mint Chocolate, Baileys with a Hint of Caramel, and Baileys with a Hint of Coffee. Suggested retail price is $12.99 for 75Oml and $19.99 for 1.75L. Available from United Liquors.
CHI CHI’S SKINNY MARGARITA
Sweetened with agave nectar, this new ready-to-drink margarita has no artificial colors, flavors or added sugars and contains 95 calories per serving. Suggested retail price is $9.99 for a 1.75L and $4.99 for a 4 pack of 2OOml bottles. Available from MS Walker.
THE BITTER TRUTH PIMENTO DRAM
This new bitters is made from select pimento berries and Jamaican rum. With a chocolate brown hue, it is sweet, spicy and intense with flavors of clove giving way to cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. At 22% ABV, Pimento Dram can be sipped on its own, but is well-suited to many... Read More