wine, from Don Sebastiani & Sons, featuring a Red Wine
Blend made from eight different varietals, plus other
wines, which sold 41,000 cases last year, and Cantiana di
Soave, a line of premium Italian wines, from Minoetto,
which sold 32,000 cases in its third year in the U.S.
The remaining wine brands are all new to the Rising
Star category. Targeting women consumers is Butterfly
Kiss (Diageo Chateau & Estates), with its California-produced lineup of light and floral Chardonnay, Moscato,
Pinot Grigio and Pink Pinot Grigio. The wines retail for
about $10 per bottle, and sold 40,000 cases in 2012.
Diageo���s Stark Raving wines are also among the new
Rising Stars. Made by Rosenblum Cellars, the lineup
includes a Red Blend, White Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon
and malbec, which are said to be bold and jammy. Stark
Raving wines debuted last year with sales of 23,000 cases,
with suggested retail prices of $12 to $14. Generally sell-
ing for below $10, The Path wines, from Don Sebastiani
& Sons, feature a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay, and saw
sales of 38,000 cases in 2012. Retailing for significantly
higher prices are Chateau d���Eslans line of French roses,
which notched sales of 33,000 cases.
Soleil Mimosa hails from a winery in New Mexico,
which combines brut sparkling wine with fresh-squeezed
orange juice to get a pre-mixed Mimosa. The brand���s 750
ml size retails for about $11, and it recently debuted a 187
ml aluminum slim can. The brand reached sales of 25,000
cases last year. The above-premium-priced Seven Falls
label, from Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in Washington
State, hit 22,000 cases for its line of Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot and Chardonnay, while the Rose���N���Blum label,
including a California Pinot Grigio and Pink Moscato,
reached 20,000 cases, as did Ernesto Catena, which highlights an above-premium-priced Malbec from Argentina.
WINE ESTABLISHED GROWTH BRANDS
T
he Wine Established Growth Brand category focuses on top-selling, high-volume wine brands that
have shown consistent growth over each of the past four
years. These are some of the industry���s powerhouse
brands that help comprise the backbone of wine sales in
the U.S. This year, there are 9 brands represented compared to 15 that made the list last year. Clearly, a number of best-selling wines in the U.S. did not qualify, primarily because they had a sales decline for at least one
year between 2009 and 2012.
CI1303
StateWays I www.stateways.com I March/April 2013
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