Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/27652
Once again, WJ Deutsch & Sons has two value-priced imported brands returning to the Rising Star list : Hob Nob from France (150,000 cases) and the Sicilian label Villa Pozzi (40,000 cases). Deutsch is also importing a new Rising Star: Volteo, a value-priced line of varietals from Spain. The Cechetti Wine Company con- tinues to have good success with its Redtree line of Lake County varietals (132,000 cases, retail- ing at about $10), and its slight- ly higher-priced Line 39 label (the 39 designates the 39th latitude, a prime wine-making latitude around the globe). Trinchero Family Estates numbers two returning Rising Stars: Newman’s Own line of varietals (85,000 cases, up 26.9%), an extension of the famous actor’s food line; and . the value-priced Jargon Pinot Noir (40,000 cases), which has been positioned as coming from the “Anti-Snob Zone.” Trinchero also debuted a new Rising Star member last year: the Seaglass label (33,000 cases), which features California Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, retailing about $10 or slightly above. For its part, DFV Wines can count two returning Rising Stars from its portfolio: the Loredona label of predominately California Riesling and Pinot Grigio (37,000 cases); and Brazin Old Vine Zinfandel, also from California (about $15 retail, 32,000 cases). Other returning members of the rising Star list include Colores del Sol, from Argentina, which climbed 57.1% to 66,000 cases; The Crusher line of affordable single vine- yard varietals from California (retailing for $10 to $13; T 39,000 cases in 2010); the OWS Cellar Selection, up another 33.3% to 32,000 cases; and the Argentinian High Note, priced above $10 (25,000 cases). The remaining Rising Stars are all new to the list. They include Ninety+ Cellars 45,000 cases), which features wines from California, Washington State, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and France, all priced $10 and above; Blufeld, an off-dry Riesling from the Mosel in Germany selling for slightly above $10; Santa Barbera, which hit 28,000 cases in its first year on the market; Peregrine, a high-end line of varietals from New Zealand, focusing on several different Pinot Noir expressions; Yali Wetland, a line of value-priced wines from Chile; San Telmo, featuring four varietals priced well under $10 from Argentina; and at the higher end, Powder Keg, a line of California Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir retailing for close to $20 a bottle; Wily Jack, the value-priced portfolio of California Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon featuring a cow- boy label design; Vigne Regali, the premium-priced lineup of Italian labels, from white wine to brachetto; Cantiana di Soave, another line of premium Italian wines; and finally, two German imports, retailing for about $10, highlighting the latest in critter labels: Superstition, a Riesling Pinot Blanc with a black cat on the label, and Anything Goes, featuring a label with drawings of a fish, a chicken, a pig and a cow, meant to suggest that the wine matches with just about food. WINE ESTABLISHED GROWTH BRANDS he Wine Established Growth Brand category focus- es 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 22 brands represented com- pared to 21 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 2007 and 2010. While there are a few premium and above-premium priced wines here, the vast majority of these brands are value wines. Indeed, the top volume Established Growth brand is Franzia Winetaps, known for its low-priced line of 3- and 5-liter box wines. The brand is the top-selling wine in the U.S. with 2010 sales of 23.75 million cases. With sales of more than 10.2 million 9-liter cases, Sutter Home is one of only seven Established Growth Brands that saw a double-digit percentage increase in 2010 (up 10.7%), which translated into an almost 1 mil- lion cases gain. Other top percentage gainers are Chateau Ste. Michelle, with its lineup of competitively priced Washington State wines (up 14.9% to more than 2.3 million cases); Bogle, the California line of varietals that sells for a range of prices (up 14.0% to over 1.4 mil- lion cases); Sycamore Lane, featuring a line of value 52 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • March/April 2011