News Briefs for September 17, 2012
September 17, 2012•Central European Distribution Corp. (CEDC) has agreed to appoint Russian Standard chairman Roustam Tariko as its interim president, replacing William Carey, who departed this summer. Tariko, who is also currently serving as CEDC’s chairman, will remain president either until the company names a permanent chief executive or until March 31, 2013, whichever comes first. Meanwhile, CEDC CFO Christopher Biedermann has resigned and will be replaced on an interim basis by Bartosz Kolacinski, previously deputy finance officer. In June, Russian Standard pledged to inject up to $310 million into CEDC to help the group reduce debt, bringing its stake in CEDC to 28%. A month later, it added that it had been authorized by CEDC to seek additional shares of common stock on the open market and raise its stake up to 42.9%. Tariko said at that time that he intended to eventually gain control of CEDC.
•Brown-Forman is set to release the 11th installment of its limited edition Old Forester Birthday Bourbon in the U.S. Created by master distiller Chris Morris, this year’s release is 97-proof. Featuring a decanter-style glass bottle designed to look like the brand’s first releases in the late 1800s, the Bourbon was selected from a single 82-barrel batch. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, which was first introduced in 2002 for the birthday of B-F and Old Forester founder George Garvin Brown, is priced at $49.99. The brand portfolio also includes Old Forester Classic 86 Proof and Old Forester Signature.
•William Grant & Sons has added a new expression to The Balvenie. Rolling out nationwide next month, The Balvenie 17-Year-Old Double Wood was created to commemorate the 50th year of service for Balvenie malt master David Stewart. The new offering, which is matured first in American oak barrels and then transferred to European oak sherry casks, is priced at around $129.99 a bottle. Double Wood is The Balvenie’s first 17-year-old expression, joining the brand’s 12-Year-Old Double Wood, 14-Year-Old Caribbean Cask, 15-Year-Old Single Barrel and 21-Year-Old Port Wood expressions.
•Harris Teeter Supermarkets is introducing a new store concept, called 201central, to the Charlotte, North Carolina market. Two new 30,000-square-foot stores, in Huntersville and Wesley Chapel, are slated to open in October. They will sell a greater variety of specialty goods, including 3,100 types of wine, 680 varieties of beer and 35 varieties of beer in kegs, as well as cigars, cheeses and international foods. They will also have equipment for home-brewing and winemaking, in-store wine consultants and educational classes focused on wine, beer and food pairings. Harris Teeter has over 200 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.
•The U.S. Treasury Department has named the Middleburg, Virginia region as the latest official American Viticultural Area (AVA). Located about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C., the 190-square-mile region surrounds the town of Middleburg and contains 229 acres of commercial vineyards. There are currently 14 wineries—including Boxwood Estate Winery, Piedmont Vineyards and Winery, Naked Mountain Vineyard and Sunset Hills Vineyard, among others—and 10 vineyards included in the new AVA. The approval makes Middleburg the seventh AVA in Virginia and the 198th in the U.S.
•Peter Serpico, formerly the director of culinary operations for the New York City-based Momofuku restaurant empire and executive chef and partner at Momofuku Ko before he resigned from these positions in March, is partnering with Stephen Starr to open a restaurant in Philadelphia. The new 52-seat venture, tentatively called Serpico, will serve innovative modern Asian cuisine similar to that of the Momofuku restaurants and is slated to debut in December.
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Tagged : Brown-Forman, CEDC, restaurants, retail, Russian Standard, William Grant & Sons
