News Briefs for August 27, 2012
August 27, 2012•Champagne Charles Heidsieck is set to release revamped expressions of its Brut Reserve and Rosé Reserve variants in the U.S. next month. The “newly refined” Charles Heidsieck Brut ($65) and Rosé ($80) are made from equal proportions Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Both are aged for more than three years and are packaged in newly designed bottles made in the shape of magnums. The new Brut and Rosé offerings’ labels are a recreation of a 1926 vintage label found on bottles in Charles Heidsieck’s cellars in Reims. Rémy Cointreau USA serves as Charles Heidsieck’s U.S. importer.
•After a short harvest last year, Washington state is on pace for a record wine grape crop in 2012. The Washington Wine Commission told local press that, due to warm weather and new acreage, wine grape growers estimate this year’s crop will reach 200,000 tons, surpassing 2010’s record of 160,000 tons. The harvest is expected to begin in a few weeks. Last year saw a much smaller crop, due primarily to the damage caused by harsh weather in November 2010. “Like much of the West Coast, we had a very short vintage in 2011,” Ste. Michelle Wine Estates president Ted Baseler recently told Shanken News Daily. “But 2012 looks like a healthy crop and I’d expect that domestic wineries will have good quality.”
•Vermont Hard Cider Co. is bringing back its Woodchuck brand’s Private Reserve Pumpkin variant this fall. The small-batch release is made with real pumpkin and spends only two and a half hours on the production line. Available now nationwide, Private Reserve Pumpkin is priced at $10.99 a six-pack. Originally launched in 2010, Pumpkin (6.9% abv) was the first cider to be introduced under Woodchuck’s Private Reserve line, which now also includes Belgian White, Ginger and Barrel Select. An Impact “Hot Brand,” Woodchuck sold over 2 million cases on 33% growth in 2011.
•Austin, Texas-based Artisanal Imports has acquired the rights to SBS Imports’ full U.S. portfolio for an undisclosed sum. Effective September 1, Artisanal will takeover as exclusive U.S. importer for SBS’s Aspall Cyders (from Suffolk, England), Batemans Ales (Lincolnshire, England), Bellegems Bruin (Bellegem, Belgium) and the De Proef Brewmaster’s & Collaboration Series (Lochristi, Belgium). SBS was founded in 2002 by specialty beer veteran Alan Shapiro. Artisanal has grown its footprint to 46 states since launching in 2001. The former SBS brands join Artisanal’s existing portfolio, which includes specialty beer offerings from Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Germany and Vietnam.
Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
Tagged : Champagne, cider, Washington
